Sailor Moon: The Rise of Genesis
by ThePrincessOfHyrule
Summary: They thought they had sealed her away for good. They were wrong. But how do you combat an ancient evil you cannot remember? How do you defeat something that isn't supposed to exist? Ch. 13 is up. R&R, please!
1. From Beyond the Void

There is a place on the moon that lies in the moon's shadow, a place whose existence is unbeknownst to humans. This place once flourished in an era of peace, an era that was called the Silver Millennium. But as this era drew to a close, a terrible war was waged between a dark entity and Queen Serenity, who ruled the Moon Kingdom at the time.

The Moon Kingdom now lies in ruins, all the bodies of the victims long since gone, and it was here that a flash of bright purple rent the air, in its wake leaving a tall, thin shadow of a woman with long, rippling hair that floated around her face in a non-existent wind.

The woman gazed about at the marble ruins about her, charred from the flames that had long ago savaged the buildings. Her gaze alighted upon the ruins of a magnificent marble palace, with a massive pond of perfectly still, mirror-like water stretching towards her feet.

"So," sneered the woman, a snarl curving her painted red lips. "The remains of the Moon Kingdom. The sight of my downfall."

This woman had travelled through time and space for thousands of years to get to where she was today, and though it had been a millennium since she last stood upon the moon, the memory of her defeat tore through her mind like an acidic virus, turning the edges of her vision red with madness. The woman glared about, her gaze falling upon the large blue planet in the distance, covered with swirling white clouds and green land masses. Her snarl deepened, flaming red eyes flashing ominously.

"Earth," she whispered, her voice as cold as ice. "The last sanctuary for this galaxy's nine princesses, the ones who brought about my downfall," she paused, surrendering herself to hate, and when she could no longer contain it, the rage exploded out of her in a shout of, "I will ensure that that will be your only triumphs! I will pick you off one by one, Sailor Soldiers, and then, I will destroy your silly little planet!"

There was a crack of violent purple light, and then the woman was gone.

"Oh, Mina," laughed Rei, her eyes dancing in the street light. "You had about five boys on the go back there and you were barely managing. How do you think you'll be able to keep that up, with exams coming?"

"Don't worry about me," Mina replied, a grin stretching across her face as she punched her friend playfully on the shoulder. "I'm the Soldier of Love, remember?"

"How could she forget, when she sees you transform every other night?" Ami offered sarcastically, and the three of them surrendered themselves into loud laughter.

The deserted street was suddenly ablaze with artificial lighting, angry shouts emanating from windows, all cursing the three of them. "Keep it down out there!" roared a man, appearing on his balcony and shaking his fist down at them with rage, while hurling a shoe at them with his free hand.

"Uh oh," Rei giggled, ducking under the skilfully-aimed shoe. "We better get out of here."

Mina and Ami roared with laughter, and Mina clutched at the latter's arm as they sprinted down the street, lost in thought of the night's events. It took her several seconds to realize that Rei was not with them.

"Huh?" she said, digging her heels into the ground and spinning around. "What's up, Rei?"

For Rei had frozen some ten yards back, one foot suspended in mid air, a look of intense concentration etched upon her face, her eyes clenched shut, one hand turned sideways and pressing against the bridge of her nose. "I sense...evil," she whispered, her dark eyes opening slowly. "I don't know, it came outta nowhere-"

As if to emphasize her point, a high, terrified cry sounded from a back alley up ahead, cutting off with unnatural abruptness. Mina, Rei and Ami all exchanged nods, and then turned and sprinted towards the place where someone was now positively shrieking with fear. Mina reached the alley first, and she skidded to a halt at the mouth of the dark side street, her hands curled into fists as she prepared to face whoever was behind this terror.

A woman was backing up against a dumpster, her purse held above her visibly shaking head, as if it would shield her from three approaching men, all of who were dressed in black as they prowled, cat-like, towards their prey, too intent upon what they were doing to notice her arrival.

"Don't worry, sugar," one of the men called, in a rough, mocking voice. "I'm not gonna hurt ya."

"But _I'm _gonna hurt _you!" _Mina shouted, sprinting forwards, adrenaline racing through her veins. The closest of the men only had time to whip around, snarling, "What the - ?" before she had seized one of his arms, and with a burst of strength whirled him around and slammed him into the brick wall behind him.

His accomplices yelled with fright and attempted to scramble past her, but they were apprehended by Rei and Ami, who had just arrived; Rei body slammed one man into the dumpster, whose lid clanged shut on top of him, while Ami knocked out the knees of the remaining man with a spinning kick before throwing him over her shoulder and into the brick wall behind her.

Breathing deeply, Mina rushed forwards towards the woman, whose knees gave way as she slumped forwards, possibly in a faint. She caught her deftly against her chest, muttering, "Are you okay?"

The woman merely whimpered in response, her heart fluttering like a hummingbird's. One of her clammy hands was travelling slowly down her arm, searching for a firmer grip. As the woman's hand reached her wrist, Mina felt as though an electric shot was travelling up her arm, causing her breath to catch in her throat.

_Something's wrong, _she realized, but it was too late. The woman's grip was suddenly vice-like upon her wrist, and the woman's head snapped up, her eyes glowing a poisonous yellow from beneath her forelocks, which had suddenly turned neon pink, while her skin blanched to a barren grey. From behind her, Rei and Ami yelled in alarm and Mina her head half way around to see that her friends had been pinned against the wall by the men they had incapacitated, both thugs similarly altered like the woman, one with bright emerald hair, the other with a shock of glistening white. Rei was gasping for breath and prying at the emerald-haired man's grip around her throat, while Ami attempted to kick the shins of her captor, her arms pinned against the wall on either side of her head.

"Mina, _run!" _her friends shouted, but it was too late; with a feral snarl, the woman kicked Mina hard in the chest, sending her flying backwards and she collided with the wall painfully hard, the back of her head exploding with pain, spots of light bursting into existence before her eyes. Gasping for breath and incapacitated as she was, Mina was powerless to move, unable to fight off the woman when her clammy hand pinned her against the wall by the throat, long nails cutting into her soft skin. She pried at the woman's iron grip, but she may as well have been clawing at a statue's fingers for all the good it did. Gasping and choking for air, Mina spluttered, "Lemme go!"

"She'll do no such thing," came a low, masculine hiss from the shadows, and Mina stared through the spots of light that were still twirling before her eyes to see that the man she had slammed into the wall had stepped out of the shadows, his long, raven hair rippling out behind him, his face, which was an ashen grey, contorted into a malicious snarl of triumph.

"What do you want?" Ami demanded, her voice shrill out of panic, and all four of their enemies laughed, an evil chorus of delight that no one but themselves could hear.

"What do we _want, _human?" snarled the raven haired man, his onyx eyes flashing nastily as they flickered towards Ami, and Mina saw that there were three interlocked, black crescent moons upon his forehead. "It should be fairly obvious, even to someone such as dim as yourself."

Mina had had enough to do with these strangers from the Negaverse; to be honest, she had had enough the moment the man opened his mouth. She removed her hands from the iron grip of the woman holding her prisoner, and inched her left hand towards her pocket, where her transformation pen was concealed. The woman did not notice the absence of her prying fingers, nor did any of her companions, for their attention was focused intently upon the black haired man, who seemed to be their leader.

"What we want, humans," he snarled, his rough voice lowering to a poisonous hiss as he took a slow step towards Ami, his strange, embroidered black robes fluttering around is silver boot. "Are your lives. You three will be the first to fall to the cause of Dark Genesis, to strengthen the Dark Queen, and will set an example for all of your kind. "

"Yeah right, pal!" Mina snarled, her hand clenching around her pen's handle. "Venus Star Power!"

Her captor was blasted backwards with a scream of surprise as she forced her pen above her head, causing a mass of orangish-yellow light to explode out of her power crystal. The planetary sign for Venus glowed brightly upon the crystal for a moment, and then a trail of orange light inscribed with stars poured out of her power source, wrapping around her form, causing a cocoon of bright white light to envelope her form. Mina felt her civilian clothes vanish into nothingness, whisked away by an invisible force and replaced instantly with her Sailor Soldier outfit; a white silken bodice and short orange skirt with matching high heeled shoes and silken white gloves. She felt her tiara materialize upon her forehead, and with a graceful twirl, she banished the light and emerged into the alley as Sailor Venus, buzzing with adrenaline and power as she glared at her enemies, fixing them with an expression of cold indifference.

She saw Rei and Amy step out of cocoons of ruby and sapphire light respectively, taking on the forms of Sailors Mars and Mercury, and she ran over to join them, slipping into an offensive crouch, hands raised in front of her face as she prepared to fight.

"I thought you freaks would have learned by now that taking over the world is impossible!" she called, pointing at the group of Negaversal foes that had formed a tight semi circle before them. Mercury nodded in agreement at her statement, tossing her short blue hair out of her face as she shouted, "And even if it wasn't, you should know that we would be there to stop you."

"We are the Sailor Soldiers," Mars declared, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder, and Venus and Mercury joined her in shouting, "And we shall punish you!"

The leader of the ones from the Negaverse snorted, clearly unimpressed. "Big words for a bunch of pom-pom wielding teenagers," he snarled, his voice lowering to a dangerous, snake-like hiss. "And as much as we'd love to stick around and listen to your little speeches, we've got a mission to complete!" With that, the four jumped abnormally high, landing heavily on top of the buildings looming over them and sprinting out of sight. Nodding to each other, Venus, Mars and Mercury followed, scaling the brick wall as an expert mountaineer would a mountain, and they tore after their opponents, Venus in the lead.

Their queries were incredibly fast, having already crossed to the edge of the building they were on and throwing themselves into open air, rolling on their sides to absorb the impact of landing on the next building. With a grunt of effort, Mina flung herself off the very edge of the building, her arms working madly in mid air as she flew, as if in slow motion, after the ones from the Negaverse. She landed lightly on her feet, and her eyes narrowed in concentration as she targeted the man at the back of their tight group. She raised on hand to her lips, blowing a kiss as she skidded to a halt, and, clenching her fist, she spun around and threw what could have been an invisible ball at the retreating shadows, shouting, "Venus Love and Beauty _Shock!" _

On the last word, a fleet of golden hearts materialized in a circle around her, and sped after her enemies at a speed that put them to shame. They slammed into the green-haired man's back, and with a roar of pain, he exploded in a mass of white light.

_Too easy! _Venus thought, slightly unnerved, and she launched herself back into the chase, which Mars was now leading.

"Nice shot!" called Mercury, looking over her shoulder to wink appreciatively at Venus, an act she returned. But every ion of her cockiness vanished as the man with a mohawk of white hair turned to glare at the over his shoulder, his onyx eyes burning with pure hatred. Jabbing one finger at them, he shouted, "Shadow _blast!" _and with an explosion of sound, a massive beam of jet black energy was unleashed from his fingertip, roaring like a sentient being as it rocketed towards them. With a cry of alarm, Venus threw herself sideways, somersaulting out of harm's way, while Mars leaped high into the air to avoid getting hit and Mercury flung herself unceremoniously onto the ground, her hands clamped over her ears. As the beam sprinted harmlessly away from them, Venus popped to her feet, an act that was mirrored by Mercury, who took the lead, crossing her arms in front of her face as she shouted, "Mercury Bubbles...BLAST!" Her hands slashed through the air, causing a maelstrom of bubbles to explode out of her hands, rocketing forwards like a particularly deadly tidal wave. They slammed into the white haired man with enough force to down an elephant, but he, incredibly, did not explode in a burst of light, as his companion had. He did, however, fall to his knees, roaring with pain, and so he did not see Mars, who had reclaimed the lead, drawing a circle of fire around her form, holding her hands in the air as if holding an invisible bow and arrow, and she cried, "Mars Flame Sniper!"

A bow constructed solely of fire materialized in her hands, and with deadly accuracy, she unleashed of flaming arrow of pure rage upon the fallen man, a blazing mass of orange raging around the arrow, which impaled the man through the chest.

He didn't have a chance; with an agonized shout identical to his predecessor's, he exploded in a mass of white light. "Nice work, Mars!" Venus shouted, punching her friend lightly on the shoulder as she passed her, her narrowed eyes fixed upon the retreating forms of the woman and her remaining male partner.

"They're too strong, Equinox!" she distinctly heard the woman shout, casting a panicked glance back at them. The man called Equinox nodded, glaring angrily back at them.

"I agree," he responded, his rough voice an unimpressed growl. "We'll have to set it off later."

"Oh no you don't!" Venus shouted, and with a burst of speed, she closed the distance between them to seven yards. Pulling one hand back, she shouted, "Venus Love Chain Encircle!" and swung her hand forwards, clenching it around a chain of interlocked golden hearts. The chain wrapped itself around Equinox and his companion, who let out yells of mingled shock and pain as they were slammed forcefully together. Yanking hard on the chain, Venus wrapped it around her wrist, and, her face inches from the woman's, she shouted, "Who is the Dark Queen?"

"Yeah, and we wouldn't mind it if you told us what Dark Genesis is, either," Mars added, as she and Mercury hurtled to a stop on either side of them, both gasping for breath.

The woman's glowing yellow eyes narrowed, and, staring maliciously between the three Soldiers, she hissed, "You sound like broken records, you know that?" she put on a high, falsetto voice, squealing, "'_What is Dark Genesis? Who's the Dark Queen?'"_

Mars let out a feral snarl, her clenched fist glowing with flames as she took a step towards the bound aliens. Venus threw her free arm out to stop her, opening her mouth furiously to berate the pair, but the man named Equinox beat her to it.

"You'll know soon enough, Sailor Soldiers," he hissed cryptically, onyx eyes flashing evilly. "Everyone will." And with that, the pair vanished in cracks of white light. Venus' love chain fell limply to the ground and immediately disintegrated, leaving its owner staring at the place where their foes had vanished, shock consuming her.

Mars punched a gloved fist into her other hand, her lips curled into an angry snarl. "Dammit I can't believe we let those freaks get away!" she cursed, and Venus was sure that that was not all she wanted to say, but she was spared hearing whatever it was by Mercury, who had turned back around to face them, taping the side of her head to get a translucent blue visor to vanish from around her head.

"Let's not stay here and try to figure it out," she offered, and she cast a nervous glance towards somewhere in the distance, where the loud, wailing screams of police sirens was growing louder. "The police will be here in no time at all."

Venus and Mars exchanged grudging nods, and then followed Mercury's lead as she slipped into the shadows, jumping down into the nearest alleyway. By the time the police arrived, slamming their doors and staring about in confusion, responding to several calls made by panicked civilians claiming to have heard shouts and explosions, the Sailor Soldiers were long gone.

After weeks of relative quiet on the enemy front, new foes had revealed themselves, and by the look of things, they were just getting started.


	2. Assault on Tokyo

Several hours later found Mina alone in her apartment, staring unseeingly at the wall across from her, her mind an eternity away. Rei and Ami had just left, having discussed the night's events endlessly, bordering on obsessively. They had not been able to glean anything from their discussions, no miraculous revelation appearing before them. They were no closer to discovering who their new enemies were now than they had been in the back alley, trapped by them, and had no idea what their motives were. In fact, the only thing they knew for certain was that the four they had faced off with were the forerunners of whatever group they were a part of, for they had been easily defeated and were definitely following some Dark Queen's orders.

_But that doesn't explain what their motives are, _Mina thought fretfully, pulling at her hair in agitation. Obviously, the evil group had set their sights upon their city, but their intentions for its future were unclear.

Ami and Rei were convinced that 'Dark Genesis' was the name of this new organization, but Mina leaned more towards the possibility that 'Genesis' was the unknown Dark Queen's name. _Dark Genesis...Dark Queen...it sorta fits, _Mina thought, sitting down upon her bed, holding her head in her hands, continuing her musing.

_Genesis...genocide...is that a preview of what is about to fall Earth? _Mina shuddered involuntarily, and wished more than ever that she knew their enemies motives. Exhausted, she fell back against her pillows, still fully clothed, still completely confused.

But she was spared the fear and confusion of reality as she sunk into unconsciousness, instantly becoming absorbed into a world of blissful relaxation. She was sitting in a circular forest clearing, the canopy of leaves filtering soft green sunlight that fell in shafts around her relaxed form. She would have been perfectly happy to stay where she was, removed from the sights and sounds of the chaotic city of Tokyo, and she was just about to get up and explore when she saw Rei and Ami, peering cautiously out of her from behind a pair of trees. Mina cried out in welcome, begging for them to join her, but her friends did not move; they continued to stare at her for several seconds, and then they turned and ran away from her, their ghostly laughter trailing behind them.

"Hey!" Mina cried, leaping to her feet, and she sprinted after her friends, dodging around trees and leaping over bushes in her haste to catch them. But her effort was in vain, for she was gaining no ground upon her friends; if anything they were moving faster, weaving in and out of sight, laughing mockingly at her.

"_Guys!" _Mina shouted, tripping over a camouflaged root and sprawling face-first into a puddle of mud. Spluttering indignantly, she pushed herself upright, wiping mud out of her eyes as she shouted furiously, "What gives?"

But Rei and Ami's mysterious behaviour was promptly driven from her mind when she saw that she was no longer in the remote forest, but plunged into blackness, absolute and suffocating, not the faintest trace of light anywhere in sight. Mina pushed herself to her feet, turning slowly on the spot while her heart pounded loudly in her ears, pumping panic through her veins as opposed to blood. She was just wondering whether or not she was about to die when her mind was assaulted with a series of flashing images; the faces of each person from the Negaverse they had encountered that night, followed by the pale face of a woman with long, wavy red hair and matching eyes, her lips painted crimson and part slightly, beautiful, yet terrifying; humans, hundreds of them, piled high upon the ground, their faces blank and unknowing, unconscious or worse; a cold stone cell, with Mars and Mercury unconscious on the ground, while someone screamed in agony; a large golden mirror, in which nine shadowy figures lurked. Then she was plunged back into blackness, the return of the empty oblivion made a hundred times more sinister because of the assault on her mind, the sudden appearance of the images, most were not exactly sinister. With a little gasp of pain, Mina cradled her throbbing head in her hands, just as her mind was seized with the image of a beautiful palace constructed of white marble, stretching out in both directions, a vast rectangular pool of perfectly smooth water stretching out towards her, with a blue and green planet hanging against the velvety black sky; this was immediately replaced by the Earth, which she saw from outer space's point of view, glowing an ominous, jade green. It was throbbing, like some weird, planetary heart, expanding and contracting and expanding again, a repetitive act that sucked all the sound from the world. And then, with a supernova-class explosion of noise, it exploded in a flash of blinding green light, while a harsh, demented caw of a woman's voice shouted, "Your move, Sailor Venus!"

'_NO!' _Mina screamed, sitting both upright. Her eyes were huge, wild with fear, and for a moment she could not understand where she was, gaze roving about the moonlit space that was her bedroom. As her breathing slowed, her mind relaxed enough to realize that she was lying safely in bed, that Earth was not about to explode, that there were no humans piled upon the street in front of her.

_It was a dream, _she told herself, without believing it. _Just a dream. _She felt slightly sick, and though she was unnaturally cold, she pushed her covers off of herself, swinging her legs over the side of her bed as so she could stand up. Her gaze alighted upon the fluttering, silken pink curtain that hung over the glass door to her balcony, and after the slightest hesitation, she grabbed her tiny silver cell phone from her small wooden table and slipped outside.

The cold night air felt good against her clammy skin as she leaned against the wrought iron railing, sighing softly. _Nightmare or prophecy? _She asked herself, gazing unseeingly up at the bright silver moon, her mind a million miles away. She possessed the strange –albeit useful – ability to have premonitions of coming disasters, prophecies that she had had only twice before and had helped her, Rei and Ami defeat the leader of the evil group they were facing off with. But they usually came weeks, even months after new foes revealed themselves, and almost always before the most sinister attacks upon Tokyo were initiated.

_Which means that something very bad's gonna happen very soon, _Mina thought finally, flipping open her cell phone, silently debating on who to call. After several seconds, her mind alighted upon Rei, who was capable of predicting the immediate future through fire. _Ami'll probably tell me it was something born out of post-traumatic stress or something, _Mina thought with a slight smile as she diled Rei's number, stifling a yawn.

"Muh?" came the question from the other side of the line.

"Rei, it's Mina," Mina whispered, leaning against the balcony railing, staring down her deserted street, her only company the dull light from street lamps and a few parked cars.

"Ugh, Mina," Rei yawned hugely. "Do you have any idea what t-t-time it is?" she was unable to stifle another yawn, and Mina rolled her eyes at her friend's statement.

"I've got a rough idea," she replied sarcastically. "I think I just had a prophecy."

"Really?" Rei asked sharply, shocked into alertness. "Are you sure? What did you see?"

"I don't know," Mina whispered, closing her eyes as she strained to remember each of the flashing images. "It went by so fast...let's see...there were faces, of those creeps we fought off tonight, and then there was this woman, I don't know, she was really freaky...then there were humans, hundreds of them, piled up really high, they coulda been dead...there was a golden mirror, and then you and Ami, in a cell, and someone was screaming outside, and then I saw the Earth, from outer space's point of view, and then it exploded..."

She trailed off, leaving Rei to lapse into thoughtful silence. Her eyes slipped open, and she saw a lone woman sprinting down the street, unpersued, but not chasing anything either. She turned to look nervously over her shoulder, wary of being followed. Mina was just about to call out to her when Rei spoke, anchoring her mind on the conversation.

"And you're sure it wasn't just a dream?" her friend asked, though her tone wasn't hopeful.

Mina shook her head, scoffing, "Are you kidding? Do you think I could dream up something like that? Nah, I was having another dream, something entirely different, it was really dumb, actually, and then it...it _changed..."_

"Hmmm," Rei said, sounding thoughtful. "Have you told Ami about this?"

"No," Mina admitted. "I thought she'd laugh at me."

Rei yawned hugely, and Mina realized that her friend was wishing that she had chosen to bother Ami with this, not her. "Well, I don't know what to do, Mina, it's not like we have any new leads or –"

But the rest of her sentence was lost as a supernova-class explosion occurred at the end of her street, and an orb of violently purplish-black light ripped its way into existence, ballooning from nothing to four yard in diameter in less than a second. A blast of ferocious wind nearly knocked Mina off her feet, and her hair flew out behind her as an explosion of white light burst off the orb's surface, sprinting towards her faster than sound could catch it, and the buildings it left in its wake immediately began to crumble, the roaring that should have been accompanied by such a disaster drowned out by the din caused by the orb's appearance-

Then the white light passed through Mina, and her scream of pain and terror was lost as she was blasted off her feet, smashing through the balcony's glass door and slamming painfully against the wall above her bed with impossible force. A weak gasp of pain escaped her lips, and the back of her head exploded in agony, little stars erupting into existence before her eyes. Mina slumped down to the floor, collapsed in a pile of debris, the chaotic roar of unnatural winds roaring in her ears, blinded by the raging light from the orb.

She felt herself slipping into blackness with alarming speed, but there was still something resisting unconsciousness, the iron core she had developed over the years of being Sailor Venus. _Get up! _screamed a voice in her head, the one with herculean strength, combating viciously with unconsciousness. _Don't you see what's happening? Your prophecy's already coming true!_

But she did not have enough strength to even formulate a response to the voice, let alone force herself up off the floor and fight with a massive orb thousands of times bigger than she. Somehow, as she lay upon the ground in a weak heap, she heard Rei's voice shouting from her phone, turned weak and tinny from the impact of crashing into the wall.

"Mi-na!" came her crackly shout. "Mina c-can you he-ear me?"

"Yes," Mina managed to whisper, but her words were instantly whisked away by the roaring of the winds. Not hearing a response, Rei's voice grew panicked, and she shouted, "Mi-na, if y-you can hear m-me, t-transform!"

_Transform..._Mina thought, the words ringing oddly throughout the chaos and pain that raged through her tortured mind. _Transform..._

And with an impossible effort, Mina forced the blackness up off of her mind, gasping with the incredible amount of strength required to do so. Slowly, she struggled to her feet, using her iron bedpost to claw herself upright, free hand pressing against her throbbing temple. Her vision swayed and twisted, running together in a mass of blinding colours, settling only enough for her to make out her bedside table, upon which her transformation pen sat. She staggered towards it, snatching it up with a shaking hand, and forced it above her head, stammering, "Venus S-Star Power!"

Her power crystal spun around for a moment, the planetary sign for Venus flashing bright gold, and then a ribbon of orange light engraved with stars sped out of the crystal, twirling gracefully around her form and surging into her, creating a blast of white light. As her civilian clothes were whisked away, Mina felt the throbbing in her head cease, the aching of her limbs and back fading into non existence, and as soon as her Sailor Soldier uniform appeared up her, she pirouetted gracefully and burst out of the cocoon of light, no longer the bewildered Mina, but battle-ready Sailor Venus.

Her room was in ruins; her possessions were soaring about, caught up in mini-tornadoes of wind as they rocketed about, blood-stained glass littered her debris-strewn floor, and her silken curtain hung in tattered ruins, the force of the raging winds outside causing it to brush against her ceiling.

"Alright, let's do this!" Venus cried to herself, sprinting across the room and out onto her balcony, gripping her railing as tightly as she could.

Or she would have, had there been a railing to grip, or a balcony to stand on; with a surprised, "Woah!" she plummeted through open air, tumbling end over end, her world reduced to blinding purple and darkest black. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she flipped upright, holding her arms stiffly at her sides as she landed lightly on the ground, absorbing the impact with her knees.

As she straightened up, Venus was unable to suppress a gasp of horror; Tokyo was lying in utter ruins, there was no other word for it. Buildings were crumbling before her very eyes, toppling upon the concrete ground, mercilessly being pummelled by bolt s of jagged white lightning. Huge gorges savaged the street, black and endless, and those unfortunate enough to fall into one would never be seen again. Cars were aflame, some missing doors, all with shattered windows, lampposts were snapped in half and ripped out of the ground like shafts of grass, litter rocketed through the air like rain, billboards and bus shelters flew about like massive birds, and there were people everywhere, all sprinting away from the orb, their screams turned weak and thin by the demonic howling of the wind. Those who fell were instantly trampled, and some called desperately out for friends and family, while others bowled people in their haste to get away, none taking any notice of Venus who, taller than most, could easily see over the heads of the surging crowd, and what she saw caused her heart to stop.

The orb, which must have been four hundred yards wide at first, had now grown to six hundred, expanding very slowly, creeping its way down her ruined street, a blinding white glow emanating off its spherical surface, patches of crackling black energy running along its purple surface. It apparently had no discretion for what it swallowed, for every building it passed through was immediately lost in its depths, the unfortunate humans unlucky enough to be at the back of the group were instantly swallowed by its brightness, becoming nothing more than solid black silhouettes, suspended inside, before they vanished, whisked away into nothingness, just like their creators.

"No!" Venus gasped, and with that she sprinted forwards, pushing her way through the crowd, desperate to reach the orb, to halt this evil. _I've got to stop this, _she thought over and over again, her wide blue eyes fixed upon the expanding light. _Even if it costs me my life._

The crowd parted easily, giving her a wide berth, none recognizing her as Sailor Venus, only sparing her enough thought to recognize her as a lunatic with a death wish, someone who was running towards certain doom...

After about three minutes, Venus had reached the edge of the group, where, albeit for a few stragglers, there was a ten meter gap between the humans and the edge of the advancing orb. She stood in the middle of the two, her eyes narrowed in concentration and against the blinding brightness of the light, and she planted her feet into the ground, spreading her arms wide, as if to shield the rest of the street from harm. Mustering all of her powers of concentration, Venus focused all of her energy on halting the advancing evil, on protecting Tokyo, on conjuring up a shield that would allow both of her wishes to happen...

When the edge of the orb was maybe three feet from her, something like a golden shield constructed of solid smoke burst into existence, taking on the relative shape of her form, like an incredibly thick second skin. Beams of thick golden light burst out of her hands, stretching out in either direction, acting like a fence that would cover the area that she could not. Her shield coiled and furled, flexing like a muscle against the orb, which was upon her at last, so powerful was it that Venus's breath rushed out of her lungs in a huff of exertion. The orb was more powerful than a herd of stampeding elephants, and exploding bomb, a tank rolling down a hill, a massive wrecking ball and a rocket being put together, using all of its impossible strength as it attempted to destabilize her, and yet, through sheer force of mind and willpower, Venus held, her arms feeling like a thousand pounds as she stood there, the lone barrier between salvation and chaos. In some distant corner of her mind, she registered that the orb's growth had halted, and, as its assault on her shield became ten times more ferocious, she thought, _Maybe if one side's stopped, all of them are._

Grinding her teeth, Venus turned her head slightly to the side, closing one eye as she glared at the orb, her strength rapidly evaporating. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to hold, not if it continued to grow more powerful with each passing second...

"Sailor Venus!" came Mars and Mercury's united shouts, so clear that they might have been standing on either side of her, but a startled glance around told her they were not. What she did see, however, was beams of ruby and sapphire join the edges of the two columns of golden light that were emanating out from her hands, and a fraction of the orb's momentous pressure upon her was lifted.

_Mars! Mercury! _Venus thought jubilantly, for that was the only way she could communicate with her friends. _Thank the gods!_

Mercury merely gasped in response, apparently baffled at the orb's strength, while Mars thought exasperatedly, _Urgh, Venus, how did you hold it off for so long _by yourself?

Venus laughed mentally, and she heard Mercury think something like, _Idiots._

_Alright, genius, what's the plan? _Mars snapped good-naturedly. Mercury was silent for a moment, and a dozen of her friends' plans flashed through Venus' mind as though they were her own, too fast for her to comprehend, and then Mercury cried, _Will you guys be okay without me for a minute?_

A mental image of Mercury's mini-computer appeared in Venus' mind, and she shouted exasperatedly, _Now is not the time to check your emails, Mercury!_

_That's not what I – _Mercury began angrily, but Mars, laughing, interrupted with a cry of, _We know, Mercury, just do what you have to do._

_Okay! _Mercury said, taking a deep, bracing breath. _Withdrawing in three, two, one!_

Mercury's consciousness left Venus', and in its absence came on onslaught of pressure from the orb. Though Venus had been expecting it, she had not been anticipating that much power, and with a gasp of surprise, she was shunted back five feet, her shoes making skid marks in the cracked cement. Gasping with a Herculean effort, she managed to halt her backwards progress, her heart pounding frantically inside her chest, struggling with the massive amounts of pressure emanating from the orb, which was now mere inches from her face. She had thought that massive amounts of heat would be rolling off of the light's surface, but she was startled to find that it was actually freezing cold, like a blast of Arctic wind, almost like it was a sentient being, something soulless and evil, and she was suddenly certain that anyone who got sucked into its depths would not return.

_Focus, Venus! _screamed Mars, as both of them were forced several feet backwards because of the Soldier of Love's lapse in concentration.

_Sorry! _Venus screamed back, her eyes narrowing with concentration as she attempted to get back in focus. Baring her teeth, Venus took a shaking step forwards, and it was as if she were struggling to take a step in a pool of cement as opposed to air. Her efforts, however, were not in vain; Mars gasped in surprise as her step shunted the edge of the orb back several inches, and Venus grinned savagely, thinking defiantly, _I am Sailor Venus, star of love, and I will halt this evil until my heart burns out!_

Mars drew strength from her proclamation, calling, _I am Sailor Mars, star of fire, and I will halt this evil!_

At that moment, Mercury's consciousness rejoined theirs, lifting an infinitesimal amount of pressure off of Venus' shoulders. _Alright, stars of whatever, I've scanned the orb for its weakest point, and it turns out it's the top. We can use Sailor Teleport to get up there, and then we've got to attack it with the strongest attacks we've got!_

_Are you insane? _Venus demanded, fear coursing through her. _We can barely manage Sailor Teleport when we've got full energy supplies, and then you want to attack it? We'll be killed!_

_It's gonna happen anyways, Venus, unless we try, _Mars told her, struggling to counter the orb's assault on her shield.

_Alright, fine! _Venus shouted, curling her fists as the orb sent a devastating punch of invisible energy crushing against her stomach. _Let's go!_

She closed her eyes and summoned the last of her energy, channelling it into her core while attempting to keep the orb at bay. The space directly over her heart was growing uncomfortably hot, and a feeling of absolute power was coursing through her veins, throbbing painfully, desperate to be free.

_Venus, ready! _she called to Mars and Mercury, wrestling with her power.

_Mars, ready! _Mars called a second after.

_Mercury, ready!_

"SAILOR TELEPORT!" they all shouted aloud, and Venus allowed the power to explode out of her, an act that transformed her into a streak of blinding gold light, rocketing upwards at a speed that would put light to shame-

After less than two seconds, Venus rematerialized, hundreds of feet up in the air, standing on an invisible platform of solid air. Mars and Mercury were already there, and a sickening wave of weakness crashed over Venus, all of her air rushing out of her lungs. Her vision twisted and warped, blood pounded through her head, and she felt sick to her stomach, like she was about to throw up and faint at the same time.

_Pull yourself together! _ordered her iron core, and Venus did, mustering all of her depleted energy supplies to force herself to lift her head, breathing as deeply as she could. Mars and Mercury both looked clammy and pale, their eyes gaunt, but there was a trace of determination visible in their faces.

Mercury's eyes slid closed, her face deceptively relaxed as her dark blue hair whipped about her face, and then she turned sharply on the spot, her hands crossed in front of her face, glowing with cyan energy, and as her eyes flew open, she shouted, "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

A bright blue bow constructed of glowing water appeared in her hands, and a positive tidal wave of water exploded off of its strings, corkscrewing tightly towards the top of the orb, its roar rivalling that of the winds. With an ear-splitting boom, it collided with the top of the purplish-black surface, and an electric current ran over it, while it shrunk about fifty feet in diameter.

But to Venus' horror, Mercury gave a little gasp, her eyes rolling back in her head, and she slumped forwards, toppling limply off of their invisible platform and through the night time sky.

"NO!" Mars cried, recovering first, and with a grunt of effort she threw herself onto the platform, reaching out and grabbing Mercury's limp hand, preventing her from falling any farther. Venus threw herself onto her stomach and helped Mars hoist their friend's unconscious form back up onto the safety of the platform, and as soon as she was lying upon it, Mars jumped to her feet, dark eyes blazing with anger as she did so, and Venus retreated back a step as she drew a circle of flame around her, causing eight fireballs to erupt around her, each inscribed with flaming black symbols. Mars then clasped her hands in front of her face, index fingers pressed together, and she shouted, "Mars Celestial Fire _Surround!"_

On the last word, the fireballs began to circle around her, before launching themselves down, plummeting like a mass of falling stars, their heat burning Venus' face as they slammed together to form one massive, cackling flaming ball. The resulting explosion from Mars' attack connecting with the orb's surface was such that Venus' eardrums popped, and, unlike Mercury's, it burned a massive hole in the top of the orb, revealing endless blackness, while a current of flame sprinted across its surface, causing the orb to shrink by a hundred meters.

But to Venus' increasing terror, Mars moaned weakly and staggered forwards in a dead faint, knocking Mercury off the platform as she fell through the air. Mina gave a shout of surprise and caught both of their gloved hands in her own, her teeth bared in concentration, and she slowly straightened out of her squat, pulling the two Soldiers back onto safety. But as she released their hands, an explosion took place inside her chest, an explosion of rage so absolute that her whole form shook with it. Her fatigue forgotten, Venus' threw her arms out from her sides, and a massive pillar of golden light shot down from the heavens, shielding herself, Mars and Mercury from view. Her hair flying out behind her, Venus shouted, "Venus Meteor _Strike!"_

On the last word, she pointed her index finger down at the rapidly deteriorating orb, and all of her rage exploded out of her in the form of six gargantuan meteors, twirling around each other, leaving thick trails of light behind them, roaring like erupting volcanoes, and each one slammed into the space created by Mars' attack with supersonic booms that shook the very air around them. As soon as the last one disappeared from view, a current ran out from the gaping black hole, transforming the orb into one of pure white light. Then, it began to shrink, so fast that in less than a second, it was less than a foot wide, an act that sucked all of the sound from the Earth-

And then it exploded, deafening Venus, filling Tokyo so absolutely that she could not see a foot in front of her. Venus' energy was spent, she couldn't have remained upright if her life depended on it. Gasping, she sank to her knees, gulping down air, her knuckles digging into the floor, which had vanished. She felt, in an odd, disembodied way, herself sinking downwards like a feather, but could not muster the strength to look up. The only thing she could do was breath, and try to keep herself from throwing up, she was shaking so violently that her form appeared blurred, her vision was a swirling mass of colour and sound that assaulted her damaged eardrums, the same thought ringing throughout her mind.

_We did it. We stopped the orb. Tokyo is safe. _But she was certain that if another orb were to appear in its place, she would be powerless to stop it from claiming her life.

She alighted upon the ground after about thirty seconds, by which time her breathing had slowed, but her energy had not returned. Her blinded eyes registered the whiteness had faded into non-existence, but she could not raise her head. She felt people moving on either side of her, accompanied by soft, bewildered groans, then-

"Sailor Venus!" cried Mars and Mercury, their voices choked with panic, their hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yep," Venus gasped back, struggling to her feet, her knees knocking together, a horrible sense of dizziness claiming her head. "I'm okay, I won't fall." But having said that she teetered precariously, lost her balance, and fell face-first onto the ground, but was saved by her companions, each of them catching one of her arms and pulling her upright, supporting her weight between them.

"How the hell are you still conscious after that?" Mars demanded, and a weak laugh escaped Venus' lips, which was answer enough.

"You banished the orb?" Mercury asked, shaking her head in awe, evidently impressed. "The amount of energy required to do that, it's incredible."

Venus smiled smally, for coming from Mercury, those words were exceptional praise. Strength was rapidly was returning to her, and the jewel in her tiara was burning slightly as her powers replenished themselves. Her world settled, and she looked up slowly, removing her arms from around her friends, but at the same moment, a flash of green light rent the air, and a sight so horrible met her eyes that she almost collapsed back onto the ground.

Some analytical part of her brain matched the image with one of those that had flashed through her mind during the prophecy, and yet it was a thousand times horrible to see it break through to reality. Humans were piled twenty feet high into the air, men, women and children all thrown together like discarded, life-sized dolls, a mass of limbs and torsos, their faces all turned up to the ironically calm moonlight sky, each perfectly blank, unconscious or worse.

"Are they – are they -?" Mercury whispered, one hand clasped over her heart, taking a shaky step forward, her dark blue eyes huge with fright.

Even if she knew the answer to her question, Venus wouldn't have had time to answer her; slowly, the humans at the top of the pile were lifted into the air like ragdolls on puppet strings, and they were pulled through the air, head flopping backwards limply, some swooping so low overhead that the Sailor Soldiers were forced to duck, rocketing through the doors and windows of the rapidly reforming buildings, for the street seemed to be repairing itself; the massive crater that had been left in the orb's place was inflating itself, becoming level with the rest of the world, while steel frames were erected from the rubble, concrete sealing the gaps between them, shards of glass speeding lethally through the air like daggers, forming windows like a million puzzle pieces coming together. Plasmatic blue currents ran over apartments, sealing the cracks in the walls, wiping graffiti clean like an invisible sponge on a chalkboard, the gorges in the streets were rapidly sealing themselves with low rumbles, lamppost stuck themselves back together as they soared through mid-air, wooden poles rooting themselves into the ground while telephone wires strung themselves between them. Cars reclaimed doors as they settled themselves back in their parking spots, waiting for their owners, mail flew back into mailboxes like a fleet of bullets, newspapers folded themselves in mid-air before settling back on their racks, billboards and bus shelters planted themselves back in their assigned posts, and then all was still, deceptively calm, exactly as it had been before the assault on the city had occurred. Not a siren wailed, not a scream shattered the silence that was pressing uncomfortably upon Venus' eardrums, as unnatural as the paranormal events that had just occurred.

Mars gave a low whistle, turning to face Venus and Mercury, looking incredulous. "What the hell was that about?"

Mercury shook her head, looking bewildered, but Venus punched a fist into her other hand, a low hiss escaping her lips. "What was the point of that? Why would someone destroy the city, then rebuild it? It doesn't make sense!"

"A test?" Mercury offered, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Maybe to see what they were up against?"

But Venus did not believe Mercury's half-hearted explanation, and she could tell that neither did Mars. "Well, we should probably get out of here," she sighed eventually, and the others nodded gratefully, looking eager to get back inside.

As Venus lead them through the night towards her apartment, her mind was far light years away. _This attack, and the appearance of those creeps from the Negaverse, they're connected, _she thought, feeling absolutely certain that she was right. _And that Dark Queen, I'm willing to bet anything she's behind it. _The face of the terrifying red-haired woman from her prophecy flashed through her mind, as terrible as the assault she had just launched. _But _why? she asked herself, feeling as though the answer was dangling just out of sight. _Who would do such a thing? There's just no _point!

As they darted down a back alley to transform, Venus knew they would be hard pressed to find an answer to that question.

But the answer became apparent as soon as they arrived at school the next day. Rei and Ami agreed to stay over at her house for the night, and having discussed the events of the night until dawn, all of them were going on no sleep. Mina and Rei were all for skipping school in favour of sleeping, but Ami was practically spitting fire at the prospect of missing the first day of exams, and so the four of them grudgingly trudged off to school at nine o'clock that morning.

Ami preceded them into homeroom, muttering complicated math equations under her breath, a manic expression upon her face, but she stopped dead in the doorway, apparently startled. Mina stifled a yawn as she halted behind Amy, peering curiously over her shoulder, and her heart nearly stopped. They were nearly ten minutes late for class, but there were only six students seated in the class that held forty, not including the teacher.

"Where is everyone?" Ami asked, sounding just as confused as Mina felt. Their teacher looked up sharply, her glasses flashing ominously as she took in the three of them.

"What are you talking about?" she snapped, snatching up the attendance from her desk and glancing down at it sharply. "Everyone's here, now that you've been kind enough to join us. Take a seat, Miss Mizuno."

Ami flushed at the teacher's words but did not move, nor did Mina or Rei. "More than half the class is missing," Rei stated cautiously, in the matter-of-fact tone one would announce the sky was blue in.

"No, everyone's present!" retorted their teacher, beating her pencil into the palm of her hand. "Sit _down, _Miss Hino!"

Understanding was breaking through Mina's confusion, and her mouth fell open in a perfect 'o' of horror. "Of _course," _she breathed, her eyes widening in horror, and Rei and Ami turned to look at her sharply, both looking desperate for some sort of explanation. "The explosion! It wasn't to destroy the city, it was to take humans! That's why they put everything back to normal, _that's why there's nothing on the news! _They don't want people to get suspicious!"

"Oh my!" Ami gasped, which did not quite seem to sum up the gravity of what had happened. For some reason, the fact that the mysterious Dark Genesis group was covering up their work was a thousand times more ominous than if they had left the city in ruins. But they did not have time to discuss the revelation any further, for their teacher, apparently fed up, burst into furious speech, her glasses sliding off her face and shattering upon the ground, while their classmates snickered.

"What is all the nonsense about explosions and disappearances?" she shouted. "Everyone is present, and you are twenty minutes late! Take your seats!"

It was like this the entire day; no matter who they questioned, Mina, Rei and Ami could not find anyone with any memory of the events of last night, though there was a lot of discussion about a dream involving a horrific explosion that most of the depleted school population seemed to have had. No one was aware that more than half of the school was missing, the teachers skipped the names of the absent. It was as if the entire school was in on some sick, inside joke. Mina was unable to concentrate on any of her exams, and she was certain she failed them all, so preoccupied was she with all the disappearances.

As Ami shot off to her biology exam, Mina and Rei trudged slowly towards gym, conversing in low voices. "We're the only ones who know what's actually going on," Rei muttered, pulling her gym shirt over her head. "Because we were the only ones directly involved in fighting it."

Mina nodded slowly, for her friend's logic made sense. "At this rate, there won't be anyone left after the next explosion," she mused, her voice almost thoughtful, though a feeling of hopelessness was coursing through her.

"Don't say that," Rei snapped, and Mina looked up slowly, a hollow expression on her face. "We know what we're up against now, we'll be able to stop it quicker. Remember what we said last night?"

Mina half-smiled, clapping Rei on the shoulder. "Of course. Until our hearts burn out, Rei." she murmured, leading them into the gym. Neither of them spoke of the orb again, for which they were both grateful.

Their exam was simple enough, and Mina was sure that it was the only one she had no chance of failing. Their task was to form two-man teams and play games of volleyball against the other groups, the winning team receiving perfect marks. To Mina, this was almost a joke, for she was a world-class volleyball player, and coupled with Rei's superb athletic ability, they were able to dismantle every team, who did not seem to realize that, after years of experience, they had no chance of defeating them.

Soon, they had played every team but one, who they were on the verge of defeating. Mina winked mockingly at the girls on the other team before shouting, "Service!" She threw the ball high into the air and slammed her open palm against it, sending it rocketing over the net. One girl shrieked in terror and, more out of reflexes than anything else, managed to pass the ball to her slightly more adept partner, who volleyed the ball high into the air, accidentally sending it too far, so Rei was able to volley it to Mina, who ran forwards and leaped high into the air, pulling one hand over her shoulder as she prepared to spike it into the opposition's face-

Time seemed to freeze, and the air pulsed electrically, some sort of alien energy coursing throughout the room. Mina's eyes widened, and Rei gave a little horrified gasp, both sensing what was about to happen. Time returned, and the moment Mina's hand touched the flimsy white ball, a deafening explosion occurred behind them, effectively blasting the gym wall apart. Mina's scream was lost as she landed heavily on her feet, spinning around to stare the thing she knew to be there. A terrifyingly familiar orb of light had ripped its way into existence, sending chunks of wall fragments rocketing towards them like oversized concrete shrapnel, pelting the ground around them and occasionally, their classmates, all of whom were screaming in terror, trampling each other in their haste to reach the exits. The ones unfortunate enough to have been playing close to the back wall were instantly swallowed, becoming nothing more than silhouettes before they, too, were whisked into non-existence.

Rei and Mina glanced at each other, nodding in silent agreement, for even though they were feet from each other, they would not have been able to hear the other speaking. In perfect unison, they drew their transformation pens from their pockets and forced them above their heads, their eyes fixed upon the advancing threat.

"Mars Star Power!"yelled Rei, vanishing behind a veil of flame.

"Venus Star Power!" shouted Mina, and she was immediately covered by a twirling mass of orange light, before a current of white burst off her form, hiding her from the eyes of the outside world. Her gym clothes were replaced with her Sailor Soldier uniform, and with a graceful twirl she banished the light, already running towards the orb, Mars several steps ahead of her.

And though it did not show in her face, Venus was completely terrified; barely five hours had passed since the first attack, and now there was another orb, which looked, incredibly, to be even more powerful than the one that had assaulted the city that night.

How long would it be before all of Tokyo had been claimed?


	3. Merciless

Venus and Mars ran forwards as hard as they could, ducking and leaping to avoid getting pummelled by flying chunks of wall fragments. Their classmates sprinted past, screaming in terror, so absorbed in their own predicaments that they did not notice the appearances of the two Sailor Soldiers in their midst, or, indeed, the disappearances of two of their fellow classmates, for the world was a melee of flying bodies and dust, while the deafening roar of utter chaos sounded in their ears, rendering them incapable of hearing the screams of those that were claimed by the unhalting orb-

Though it took less than thirty seconds for them to navigate their way to the edge of the orb, it was thirty seconds of agony to Venus and Mars, forced as they were to watch their friends being whisked into non-existence. But at long last, they reached their destination, and, throwing their arms wide, the Soldiers formed a barrier between the advancing evil and the opposite wall, their smoky shields, golden yellow and ruby red, erupted around them, beams of their respective coloured light reaching out to the places they could not reach. The force that the orb pummelled her with hit Venus like an iron punch to the stomach, causing the air to rush out of her lungs in a huff of surprise; it felt like this new one was at least three times stronger than the last, and, to Venus' horror, they were not even succeeding in halting it completely; their shields reduced its pace to a snail's crawl, but it was still moving forwards, nonetheless.

_Where the hell is Mercury? _Venus screamed to Mars, whose thoughts, like her own, were a jumble of frustration and fear.

_Probably trying to finish off her exam before she comes to join us, _Mars shouted back, and the Soldier of Fire's anger coursed through Venus as though it were her own. But beneath her friend's frustration, Venus could not detect a hint of truth in her words, and sensed that Mars, like herself, had known what had happened; Mercury had either already gotten swallowed by the orb, or was incapacitated so that she could either not transform or so that she could not join them.

Or perhaps all three.

_It doesn't matter where she is, _Mars yelled mentally, her voice laced with fear. _We've got a big problem on our hands!_

It was true; Venus was even temporarily distracted from Mercury's ominous absence by the unnerving strength of this second orb. As if it were a sentient being they were grappling with, it seemed to learn the best way to undermind their defences was to put forth an onslaught of pressure as fast and ferociously as possible, and it was definitely working; her arms, already trembling from being held upright for so long, were threatening to pop out of their sockets, and so much strain was upon her chest that she thought it would soon be likely to collapse in on itself. Narrowing her eyes against the overwhelming brightness, tightening all of her muscles, Venus reached out and took Mars' left hand in her right, drawing strength from the knowledge that she was not yet alone, and, with an effort that was almost unbearable, a fraction away from being insurmountable, she took a trembling step forwards, feeling like she was forcing her leg through drying cement in an effort to keep the orb at bay. To her incredulity, it halted, but she sensed that it was not from the force of her actions; it was taunting her, sniggering at her futile attempts to stop its progress.

_Nice work, Venus! _Mars shouted triumphantly, and, as if in attempt to match her, took a step forwards herself, glowing with smoky red light. Venus would have answered back, but she could sense something brewing in the orb's depths, like it was marshalling strength, almost as if it were about to-

_This isn't working! _Venus screamed, her heart pounding in terror. _Remember last night, Mercury said the only way to win was to attack it from above! We're going to have to teleport, Mars!_

Mars growled out loud, gnashing her teeth, while Venus sensed panic running through her companion like a fast-acting poison. Last night there had been three of them, and the effort of halting the orb, which was three times weaker than it was now, combined with the strength needed to use Sailor Teleport, had nearly resulted in their deaths. This time, Venus was almost certain that they would not survive to see what befell the school.

_We've all gotta go sometime, Venus, _Mars thought in frustration, grinding her teeth together. _May as well go out in style._

And then, as though the orb was terrified of her proclamation, it shrank back from them like a frightened turtle, an act that sucked all the sound from the world, silencing the terrified screams and yells of pain, panicked cries and uproarious din, until the vast evil was nothing but a tiny white sphere of pulsating light. Time stretched into a single moment of confusion, and Venus and Mars stood there, frozen like statues, staring uncomprehendingly at what had just happened, and then, it hit them, both at the exact same time.

_Oh gods, _the thought in unison, turning to exchange wide-eyed looks of terror. _It can't be-_

But neither had time to complete their thoughts, for at that moment, an explosion of supernova-proportions occurred from the tiny sphere of light, and a massive, cackling wall of violently purple energy burst off of its surface, effectively blasting Venus and Mars off their feet, and both were too stunned, too pained to scream as they hurtled through the air, propelled backwards by the impossible strength of the wave of light. They slammed through the concrete wall with crushing force, like a child smashes a block tower, and Venus' cry of pain was lost in the din as they rocketed outside, the sun mingling with the spots of light that had erupted before her eyes, and the blaring sounds of horns and street vendors mingled with the uproarious racket-

They would have possibly been flying through the air for miles, but, be it blessing or curse, their progress was eventually halted in the form of a massive tree that had been planted in the courtyard. Branches and twigs whipped harshly at Venus' flying body, but the pain of those were dimmed by the agony that came with slamming into the gnarled wooden trunk. She felt as though her head had split in two, as though her lungs were on fire, that the air had turned to acid as she inhaled shallow breaths. The world was a swirling, throbbing mass of lights and pain, there was a high pitched ringing in her ears, the cuts in her arms and legs were burning like flaming knives against her skin, and Venus barely notice as her form fell forwards and lay draped upon a particularly thick branch like a coat on a hangar...

For several minutes, all she could do was gasp for breath, and very slowly, the pain subsided into angry, burning throbs, but at least it became bearable. Panting slightly, Venus looked up, brushing her hair from her face, and to her incredulity, saw that the gym wall, which was obscured slightly due to the mass of leaves and branches, looked as pristine as it had before, standing with deceptive innocence, when it should have laid in crumbling, smoking ruins, at the very least.

_I guess they're still cleaning up after themselves, _she realized, and an angry snarl escaped her lips. Judging from the way there were no people running to their sides, no police or ambulance sirens blaring, no one had noticed that two teenage girls had just been bodily blasted through a five foot-thick concrete wall.

Suddenly, Venus remembered Mars, and her head jerked up with a sharp clicking noise, her blue eyes widening as she searched for her friend. She exhaled slowly when she saw her friend hanging above her, long black hair was a chaotic mass of leaves and twigs and hung down to hide her face, her arms and legs were bruised and slashed with innumerable shallow cuts. Her uniform was in ruins, coated with blood, sweat and dirt, but Venus knew from experience that after they transformed back into civilian form and back into Sailor Soldiers, their uniforms would be as good as new.

Knowing she must look similar, Venus gasped out, "You okay?"

Mars looked up slowly, and her dark eyes were glittering with tears of pain. "Yep," she called back, sounding out of breath. Wincing slightly, she slid herself into sitting position onto her branch, and act mirrored by Venus. "What's with the school?" Mars asked, nodding in the direction of the gym.

The stony expression upon Venus' face was answer enough; Mars' bloody lips curled into a feral snarl, and she shook her head slowly, the frustration emanating out like a tangible aura. "Two attacks in less than twenty-four hours, both in high-populated areas." She swore so violently that Venus half-smiled as she pictured the look on Mercury's face if she could have heard the profanities, but then her eyes widened in panic, remembering that their friend was missing, possibly dead.

"We've got to find Mercury!" she whispered in mortification, and Mars' voice cut off with almost unnatural abruptness. Apparently unable to speak, her friend nodded stiffly, and Venus pulled her transformation pen from her pocket, forcing it above her head, willing her transformation away.

With a faint whooshing noise, a veil of glittering orange stardust descended upon her form, and Venus felt her ruined outfit vanished, replaced with her gym clothes. The cuts and bruises on her arms and legs miraculously healed themselves, and she felt the dried blood and dirt vanish from her form as if wiped away by an invisible sponge. The pain in her head ceased, and a grateful Mina emerged from her cocoon, just in time to see a mass of flames pass over Mars' form, dispersing to reveal Rei.

With silent nods to each other, they picked their way down the tree, careful not to rip their clothes, hoping to appear as inconspicuous as possible when they landed. Mina was distracted the whole time, the same thought bouncing through her mind like a caged animal, clinging to hopes of escaping.

_I have to know...there's a way...Ami might still be here, and I need to know..._

She landed silently upon the ground, just after Rei, and the two of them stepped out from beneath the tree, brushing leaves from their hair. No one noticed their appearance, for the courtyard was relatively deserted, yet another ominous sign to her; just how many more had been abducted. Rei tore her from her thoughts by pointing silently to a pair of girls who they only knew by sight, recognizing them as members of Ami's biology class.

"Excuse me," Mina said, struggling to keep her voice calm. Both girls started and whipped around to face them, accidentally banging their heads together. "Did you just come from biology?"

"Hi," said the red head, rubbing her head while trying to conceal her goggling. "And yeah. What's up?"

"Have you seen Ami around?" Rei pressed, the urgency in her voice startling the pair.

"I, uh...which one?" the brunette asked, cocking her head in confusion, and Mina's heart sank like a stone plunged into the ocean. Ami may have been a common name, but these girls knew that she and Rei only hung around with one Ami.

"Ami Mizuno," Mina whispered, closing her eyes briefly, begging the gods for good news. "Have you seen her?"

The girls looked at each other in confusion, but by the time the red head had turned back to them and opened her mouth to speak, Mina and Rei had gone, already halfway across the courtyard, sprinting away from the two letter word that they both knew was hovering in the air behind them like a disease. Even though Mina had been expecting it, it came as no less of a blow to see proof that those girls had no idea who Ami Mizuno was, that their suspicions of herself and Rei being lunatics were confirmed, that the girl of which they spoke was probably just a hallucination...

_We've still got one chance, _Mina thought desperately, refusing to entertain the snide voice in her head that was telling her she was in denial. _One chance, that's all we've got..._

They sprinted through downtown Tokyo, bowling over shoppers without apology, ignoring the curses and occasional bits of garbage thrown after them, darting through traffic and leaping over cars with astonishing agility to anyone who happened to be watching. Twice, Mina was almost hit by a car, and Rei was actually forced to roll across the hood of a dump truck to avoid her demise. After several minutes of wordless running, they reached the outside of Ami's apartment, and Rei yanked open the lobby door, sprinting across the white-tiled floor and ignoring the sleepy protests of the doorman. Mina pummelled the elevator button, and after several seconds, the silver doors slid open with a bright _ding _that was far too cheerful for Mina's current state of mind.

There were three middle-aged women already in the elevator, all of them clucking in disapproval as Mina and Rei barged in, the latter nearly knocking one of the shopping bag-laden trio over. Muttering a half-formed apology, Rei slammed her fist upon the button marking the third floor, while Mina tapped her toe upon the shiny floor, clicking her tongue impatiently. After an agonizing eternity, the doors slid open, and the moment they did so, Mina sprinted out, accidentally tripping over the gap in her haste, but she turned a somersault and fluidly popped to her feet before the women had time to mutter in scandalized tones.

Rei and Mina raced down the hallways, the only sounds their laboured breathing and pounding heart, and Mina silently counted off the doors they raced past, searching for the one they wanted...

_305...306...307_

She reached apartment 311 first, and unceremoniously flung her shoulder against the wooden portal, gasping in surprise as it flung open. She staggered inside, her eyes roving around unseeingly for a moment, but then the settled upon the room before her, and she felt as though the floor had disappeared from beneath her feet.

The main room was stripped bare, plain white walls and shiny wooden floors sparkling with ominous cleanliness. There was no table or couch or television or desk, not a sign of a piece of clothing or picture fragment, not a scrap of food, not a drop of water. Clearly, Ami's mother had been taken last night, and since she had not gone back there after the attack, she had never known...

_They're gone, both of them. Gone forever._

"No," Rei whispered, sounding horrified as she pummelled one fist into her hand. _"No!"_

Mina sank weakly to her knees, hands curled into fists, her eyes clenched shut in a futile effort to keep her tears from escaping. There was no point in searching the other rooms, for she knew that the only thing they would find would be the evidence that the Dark Queen was determined to remain as mysterious as possible, could not afford to leave a shred of evidence that would protest that the ones she had captured had never really existed...

"Mina," Rei whispered suddenly, her voice a jumble of awe and terror. "Mina, listen to me."

Mina stifled her sobs, raising her head just enough to stare blearily up at Rei's motionless form through her bangs, a slightly shell-shocked expression upon her face.

"You don't think," Rei whispered, still in the same awed voice. "that Equinox and that woman...that _they _set off the explosions? And maybe...maybe when they came to the school, they saw Ami, and they recognized her as Mercury, and that they...that they captured her?"

Mina was stunned, both at her stupidity for not coming to such a conclusion before, and at the simplicity of the complex plan they had been envisioning. _It fits perfectly, _Mina thought, struggling with her sense of awe and sorrow. _Equinox said they had a mission to carry out...and less than three hours after they slipped through our fingers, that first orb was set off! _Then, another realization hit her like a slap in the face. _There _was _a woman! I saw her, sprinting down the street, just as I was talking to Rei! Right before-_

She was torn away from her stunned thoughts by a crack of white light renting the air, temporarily blinding her. Fearing attack, Mina leapt to her feet, slipping into a half-crouch while simultaneously moving to stand back to back with Rei, but their caution was pointless; the light dispersed, and Mercury's transformation pen dropped onto the floor before them with a faint clattering noise. For a moment, they stood there in absolute shock, unable to comprehend what had happened, but then Rei broke the spell by bending down and scooping Mercury's power source off the ground, her dark eyes alight with wonder. Mina leaned forwards, her heart thundering in her chest, and saw, to her amazement that their friend's power crystal, still encased in the blue star that topped the pen had the sign of Mercury burning upon it, a faint trace of gold, like the dying embers of a fire. Faint, but still there.

Sailor Mercury was alive, for the time being.

"She's alive," Mina breathed a sigh of relief, and Rei's hand clenched around the pen's handle. "We've got time to figure out a way to get after her."

Rei looked up sharply, telling Mina with her eyes that she understood 'a way to get after her' to mean that they needed to figure out where the next orb would strike. For a brief moment they stood there, smiling at each other, absorbed in the joy of knowing that their friend was not, in fact, dead, but then the spell broke as they realized that they had more important things to do than standing in a deserted apartment. They moved in silence, Mina quietly closing the door behind her, and they slipped down the stairwell, no more distinct than shadows, their footsteps echoing off the closely set walls.

"They've already attacked one of the most majorly populated housing areas in Tokyo, and the school," Rei said, thinking aloud, an almost musing quality to her voice. "So we can bet that it's going to be somewhere big next, probably the business district or-"

But Mina never knew the location of Rei's second suspicion, for at that particular moment, she pushed open the door that led to the lobby, only to find that it was not there; in its place was a scene from a nightmare, a reality that had assaulted the pair of them not twelve hours ago.

The lobby had been ripped out of existence, and in its place was a slab of cracked asphalt and blackened concrete. The sky, which had been crystalline blue when they entered Ami's apartment, was now onyx black, steaks of multicoloured light slashing it, jagged bolts of blindingly white lightning randomly flashing down and striking the smouldering remains of crumbling buildings everywhere, lighting them on fire. The wind was uproarious, almost strong enough to lift the two of them off their feet, and as Mina tried to keep her hair from whipping her eyes, she saw, through the mass of screaming, terrified humans, yet another orb approaching them, this one already several hundred meters in diameter, gobbling up humans and buildings with no discretion.

Mina did not even start to hesitate; she broke into a sprint, running faster than she had in her entire life, while pulling out her own transformation pen and forcing it above her head, shouting, "Venus Star Power!" In less than a second, she had become Sailor Venus once more, uniform predictably-rip free, and she and Mars tore forwards like streaks of light, shoving humans out of their way, unable to communicate for the uproarious din, blinded as they were by limbs, torsos and light, and they only knew where they were going because of how loud the roaring of the wind was up ahead-

With a noise like a laser beam being fired, the world flashed white, and suddenly, Venus was frozen, posed like a statue in mid-step, her hair and clothing frozen in mid-billow, one leg still hovering above the ground, teeth clenched together as if by an iron clamp, eyes huge, frozen, unable to take a breath, unable to turn her head, though out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mars, along with hundreds of other humans, suspended in a ludicrous tableaux all around her-

And then, as abruptly as it had come, the spell of frozenness had ended, and with a bewildered cry of, "Woah!" Venus staggered and fell, her head throbbing painfully, but then she had popped up like a sprinter from the gates, and she was running forwards once more, broadcasting to Mars, _What the hell was that?_

_Beats me! _Mars shouted back, her fury and confusion pounding through Venus, strengthening her own feelings-

The air seemed to pulse, and suddenly, they were floating upwards, as if the air had become water. Venus felt her eyes widening in horror, and the silence that had fallen upon the city was so absolute that it pounded like an angry mob upon her ears, too huge to be contained. All around her, humans, debris and vehicles alike were floating up into the air, all wearing the same shocked expressions, too stunned to scream-

Then she was on her feet again, and Venus continued as though there had been no interruption, though she felt as though her entire world had been turned upside-down. She had no idea what was going on, and she could tell from Mars' flashing, indistinct thoughts that she had no more idea as to what was happening to the world than she did.

And even though it had almost been expected, the air pulsed once more, and this time, the effects were terrifying; in sharp contrast to anti-gravity, Venus was slammed to the cracked ground, being crushed against it as if a giant's hand was attempting to squish her like a fly. Some unfortunate humans tumbled straight through the gorges in the ground, tumbling into non-existence, but at the moment she had no room in her head to spare for their predicament; her eyes were bulging inside her skull, her lungs were being flattened, bones creaking and growing, on the brink of breaking, and a gasp of pain escaped her lips, while the endless roaring of the advancing orb raged on-

Suddenly, a wall of onyx light exploded off the orb's surface, rocketing towards the trapped and screaming humans, blasting all in its path off of the ground and through the air like ragdolls; Venus and Mars were both thrown backwards, and while it was the complete opposite of being crushed to death, Venus would have almost preferred the latter. They hit the ground with crushing force, and while the impact was slightly lessened by the people that had preceded them, Venus was blasted instantly into unconsciousness.

The moment her eyes slid closed, however, her subconsciousness sprung into action, as though it was a movie on pause that had been just itching to play. She found herself standing upright once more, and humans were still sprinting and screaming all around her, but they seemed to be running in slow motion, their terrified shouts warped and dull, as if they were underwater hundreds of miles away, while the rest of the world functioned at a normal pace. She found herself and Mars sprinting towards the orb, but her intentions were not, however, to stop it, but to enter it, as fast and quickly as possible. The moment she broke its icy edge, the world became a mass of white light, and a ghostly image of Mercury appeared before her, smiling slightly, beckoning her forwards, and then the vision ended.

Venus' eyes snapped open, and her ears were immediately assaulted with the sounds of utter chaos; she stared up at the lightning-strewn sky in bewilderment, and then, quite abruptly, she was seized by an overwhelming sense of righteousness, that what she had seen during her brief spell of unconsciousness was the correct course to follow. She sprang to her feet, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mars sitting up groggily, shaking her head in confusion, her eyes still slightly glazed.

"Mars," Venus cried, pulling her friend to her feet, her eyes bright with urgency, boring into Mars' confused dark eyes like laser beams. "Do you trust me?"

"Of...of co...what kind of a question is that?" Mars demanded, her eyes focusing upon Venus' face with some difficulty.

"Do you trust me?" Venus demanded, her voice made weak and shrill by the screaming wind, her hands wrapping around Mars' wrists.

"Yes!" Mars shouted back, her voice ringing with certainty. "I absolutely do."

"Then don't let go," Venus whispered, and then she was running, releasing all of Mars but for a single wrist, half-leading, half-dragging her along behind her.

They sprinted forwards without incident for several moments, but then, when there was less than thirty meters between them and certain doom, Mars sensed that all was not as it seemed.

"Venus?" she yelled, uncertain, panic clawing at her voice. "You have a plan, right?"

Venus muttered a half formed response, but the words were instantly whipped away by the howling winds. They were now only twenty feet away, and Mars' wrist squirmed slightly in her hand, trying to yank it free.

"VENUS!" Mars screamed, digging her heels into the ground, slapping her back, but the blows merely bounced off, ignored by the Soldier of Love, who continued to drag her forwards at full speed. "YOU HAVE A PLAN RIGHT?"

"You said you trusted me," Venus yelled, turning her head to face Mars, urging her to understand with her eyes, while her legs carried them forwards, refusing to slow down. "Do you think I'd be doing this if you didn't?"

And that was when they ran straight into the orb, hit full in the face by a blast of icy cold wind that seemed to freeze the air in Venus' lungs. Mars' scream of terror was lost as they plunged into something that was most certainly not the blissful whiteness promised in her vision.

_Damn, _Venus thought, emitting a low whistle. _What have I gotten us in to?_


	4. Horror Inc

The world was nothing but a chaotic, roaring mass of screaming winds, flashes of colour, and senseless, flashing images that were whisked out of existence too vast for either Venus or Mars to comprehend. Venus head was a throbbing mass of pain, her eyes watered from the brightness of everything, and the only real thing was Mars' hand that was still clutched in her own, shaking slightly from both fear and wonderment.

Despite all the chaos, she could see that they were actually speeding down an endless tube constructed of lavender bluish-white light, with streaks of pink shooting across it like lightning bolts. Wherever they were headed, Venus was sure that it would lead them to Mercury.

_Where the hell do you think we're going? _Mars demanded, her mental shout almost drowned out by the din.

_I have no idea, _Venus yelled back, completely truthfully, but not to her surprise, this only infuriated Mars further.

_Why did you drag us into that orb, Venus? _she demanded, her voice pulsing with anger. _What's stopping us from being killed the moment we land?_

_You want to find Mercury, don't you? _Venus shot back, refusing to apologize for what may have been the stupidest –and last – decision of her life. _Well, we're headed to the same place she is, whether you like it or not!_

Her words acted as a tidal wave that extinguished Mars' fury, and, after a moment of tense, cowed silence on her friend's part, she muttered, _Sorry, Venus. It's just-_

But Mars cut herself off with an audible gasp of shock that mingled with Venus', for at that moment, the flashing images and colours vanished, and they found themselves hovering in a wide open, black space. They lingered only for a single, ludicrous second, and then the Sailor Soldiers plummeted downwards, both screaming in terror, until they landed on two surprisingly soft somethings. Gasping for breath, Venus closed her eyes and fell backwards, her whole body shaking with relief. They were safe, for the moment.

"Venus?" Mars hissed from somewhere close by, and Venus' eyes snapped back open, shifting from terrified teenager to focused soldier. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Venus hissed back, sitting up slowly, her head pounding slightly as her eyes adjusted to the blackness. "It's lucky these things were here, I wonder what they – ARGH!"

She cut herself off with a scream of terror as she registered what she had been sitting on. Leaping to her feet, Venus pressed her back against Mars', both of their hearts pounding in terror as they stared about the room. It was not, in fact, a pitch black space, but a dimly lit room, the walls and floors constructed of depressing grey stone. The cavernous room was ceilingless, and it seemed to open up into the heavens, which were an endless expanse of velvety black, punctuated by tufts of brightly coloured smoke that drifted across it like clouds. It looked nothing like any place Venus had ever seen on Earth. But she did not really care about the characteristics of the room, not really; her attention was focused solely upon the floor, which was strewn with humans, hundreds of them, men, women and children, the young and the old, some in pyjamas, some in work clothes, others in school or gyms uniforms. The ones who were lying on their backs had blank, unknowing expressions upon their faces, and Venus would have sworn they were asleep had not their limbs been splayed in sharp, unnatural angles, or for the fact that none of them were breathing.

"_This _is where the humans are being taken?" Mars hissed, sounding both disgusted and terrified. "To lie in a stone room?"

Venus was shaking slightly; everywhere she looked, more bodies were coming into view, filling up every space, some lying on top of each other, looking like discarded, life-sized dolls. Feeling as though she were about to be sick, she whispered, "Are they...d-do you think they're -?"

"I don't know," Mars muttered, shaking her head in bewilderment. She sank down to her knees and, pulling a disgusted face, placed her head upon the nearest person's chest, her eyes narrowed to slits. She knelt there for a moment, then her eyes widened in relief, expression relaxing as she got back to her feet.

"They're alive," she assured her, and Venus felt ten pounds lighter at her words. "Or he is, at least."

"Okay," Venus said, and a giddy smile spread across her face, so relieved was she that these people were not dead. "Let's find Mercury. She's bound to be here somewhere."

Exchanging determined nods, Venus and Mars clasped hands briefly and set off in spate directions, prowling silently about the room, both feeling as though they were fugitives hiding out in some sort of extraterrestrial morgue. Venus winced as, inevitably, she stepped on someone's limp hand or leg, but consoled herself with the fact that they could not feel it. She occasionally spotted someone she knew, a classmate or shop owner, and even spotted Mercury's mother, a pang of sorrow going through her as she reflected that her own parents were safe from the attacks on Tokyo, living in London.

"Here!" Mars cried, and Venus whipped around to see Mars some hundred yards away, crouched over someone. "Oh, wait...never mind, it's not her,"

Frustrated, Venus turned back around, annoyed at how her spirits had been crushed by Mars' false announcement. But she knew in her heart that it was not her friend's fault, for they were both desperate to find Mercury, and she herself sometimes mistook girls their age for their missing friend.

Venus reached one side of the room with no results, and she was just about to give up hope when Mars hissed, "Venus!"

She knew by her tone that Mars had not made a mistake this time, and so she spun around and tore across the room as fast as a tornado, but with considerably less destruction in her wake. She trampled over unconscious humans without sparing them a second thought, leaping over them when she could. In no time at all she was at Mars' side, her face shining with anxiety, wiping away a bead of sweat that had nothing to do with fatigue. Sure enough, Mercury was lying before them, one hand laying across a girl's back, her dark blue hair falling elegantly into her face, as still and pale as the dead.

"Mercury!" Venus cried jubilantly, kneeling at the Soldier of Water's side, her face transported with glee. "Wake up!"

She placed her hands on Mercury's shoulders and shook them slightly, but, to her dismay, her friend did not stir. "Mercury?" Mars hissed, crouching beside Venus and shaking her limp shoulder roughly. "Wake up, Mercury, naptime's over!"

"Damn it, Mercury, wake _up!" _Venus shouted, leaping to her feet, using frustration as a mask to disguise her fear. There was clearly something very wrong with Mercury, and she was scared to discover that she had almost been expecting something like this to happen should they find their missing comrade.

They shouted and plead, cried and swore. Mars stamped her feet, yelled in Mercury's ear, dumped a bottle of water she had found in a civilian's pocket over her face and pulled her hair. Venus tried asking her nicely, threatening her, begged in French and Japanese for her to wake up, and was just about to slap their unconscious friend when Mars pulled out her transformation pen and, pointing it with at Mercury's blank face with a shaking hand, shouted, "SAILOR MARS, STAR OF FIRE, COMMANDS YOU TO WAKE UP!"

There was a beat of excited silence, but then, the electricity in the air faded, and Mars slouched forwards, defeat etched upon her face. But Venus, too enraged to sink into despair, gasped in shock as inspiration struck her, and she pulled out Mercury's transformation pen and, jabbing it at its owner, cried, "MERCURY STAR POWER!"

To her amazement, this last effort worked; a jet of glowing, purest blue water streamed out of Mercury's power crystal and shot straight into the sapphire fixed upon its owner's tiara. The gem glowed brightly for a moment, and then Mercury drew in a great rattling breath, her chest rising up off the ground, back arching to breaking point, and just when Venus was about to cry out in alarm, she collapsed back onto the stone ground, whole form heaving with deep, uneven breaths.

As one, Venus and Mars threw themselves onto the ground beside their friend, their eyes huge with anticipation. Mercury's dark blue eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, she stared bemusedly up into the endless heavens, then sat up groggily, brushing the hair out of her eyes and muttering, "Where am I?"

"About time," Venus said, smiling hugely as she punched Mercury playfully on the shoulder. To her alarm, Mercury unleashed a piercing scream of terror and leapt to her feet, wild eyes huge as they shifted from Venus' face to Mars', relaxing only after several seconds.

"Oh my!" she gasped, one hand clasped over her heart, shaking her head in bewilderment. "I...don't scare me like that!"

"Someone's on edge," Mars muttered, though a relieved smile was etched upon her face, seemingly carved in stone. Mercury rolled her eyes, though the corners of her mouth twitched in a smile as she stared at Venus and Mars as they clambered to their feet.

"Did you guys get caught by that orb, too?" Mercury asked finally, accepting her transformation pen from Venus. Mars cast a half-glance at Venus before responding, "Not exactly." When Mercury frowned in confusion, she continued, "I think Venus had better explain this one."

Venus nodded slowly, then launched into explanation, describing the attack upon the school, of how they were confused at her absence, then moving onto how they knew Mercury was gone by the girls not knowing who she was and then how they had confirmed those suspicions by visiting her empty apartment. Mercury's face remained one of frowning concentration as she listened to the story, staring intently at the ground, not speaking, not even looking up when Venus told her that her mom was missing. As she finished describing how they had followed her here by entering the orb that marked the third attack on Tokyo, Mercury looked up, her face concealed in the shadows.

"So, what happened to _you?" _Mars demanded, staring intently at Mercury, trying to see through the darkness to guess her emotions. Mercury stepped forwards, and her face bore a stoic, brooding expression as she contemplated all Venus had said. Finally, she broke her silence, her voice sounding far away.

"You were right about thinking Equinox and his female friend were behind those attacks," Mercury told them, her eyes glassing over as she relived her ordeal. "I was in the middle of writing my biology exam when I heard some shouting in the hallway. I turned around and saw him staring into the classroom through the window; the idiot didn't even think to disguise himself as a human! He saw me staring at him, and I guess he recognized me from last night, because he broke the door down, shouting, 'Solstice, it's one of those girls!', and then he slammed his fist down on one of the desks and set off one of those orbs.

"Everyone was screaming and pushing each other...it all happened so fast, most of them were sucked into it right away, but some of them managed to get out of the emergency exit...I knew I couldn't just escape, so I transformed and tried to hold it off, but it was too strong, it was pushing me backwards...it's so hard to remember...it was shoving me back against the wall, and I thought I was going to be crushed, but then it broke my shield and everything went black...the next thing I knew, I'm sitting here with you two standing over me."

The three of them lapsed into thoughtful silence, each of them contemplating the halves of the story that they had just been told, and before they could speak, the sound of hundreds of heavy, marching footsteps sounded from the other side of the wall opposite them, so powerful that the floor shook slightly. Venus, Mars and Mercury exchanged wide-eyed looks, and then sprinted away from the wall, leaping over bodies in their haste to reach the corner of the room, Venus in the lead. She threw herself into its shadows, pressing her back against the wall, and as Mars and Mercury threw themselves against the stone on either side of them, the footsteps came to a resounding halt, leaving an echoing silence in their wake. Venus forced herself to breath silently, straining to hear what was going on on the other side of the wall, but it was at that moment that a set of massive oaken doors slid open, doors she had not opened before, and a fleet of wraithlike beings entered the room, floating several feet above the ground, all clothed in glowing white robes with hoods pulled low over their faces. Mars gave a gasp of surprise and Venus immediately clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes huge with fear of being discovered.

But the assembled beings did not seem to hear Mars' strangled gasp, and the sound was driven from Venus' mind as the hundreds of people strewn about the floor rose up into the air, each of them transforming into orbs of purest white light that pulsed like strange hearts constructed of light. Snatches of whispered conversations whooshed past Venus' ears, and, as she focused on the closest orb, she caught sight of a young man's face hidden inside it.

"_Souls," _Mercury breathed from beside her, sounding both awed and nauseated, and though Venus sensed that Mercury was right, she did not contemplate her friend's revelation. She looked past the sea of supposed souls and saw that the fleet of beings turned and drifted gracefully out of the room, the robes fluttering out behind them. The souls floated after them like trained animals, the snatches of conversation growing fainter and fainter, the almost blinding amount of light emanating out from them growing ever more dim, until the final orb had vanished from the room and the dark brown doors closed with a resounding boom.

"Quick, follow them!" Mars cried, sprinting towards the other end of the room, her long black hair flying out behind her. Venus and Mercury flung themselves after her, the hearts and minds racing as their footsteps echoed off the stone walls, eyes fixed upon the wooden doors, praying that they were not locked. Mars reached them first and, digging her heels into the ground to skid to a halt, she placed a gloved hand upon the door and pushed it open. It swung backwards with the tiniest creak, and Venus winced, expecting to hear outraged shouts and the sounds of weapons being drawn, but none came.

"Excellent," she hissed, slipping through the small space and sprinting down what appeared to be a hallway constructed of shining white marble. Thick gold carpets lined the floor, muffling her footsteps, and the only light came from flickering cyan blue torches that were fixed upon the wall by cold iron brackets, casting an eerie glow upon what Venus knew what could have been an immensely beautiful place.

_How did I know that? _she asked herself, feeling confused, and she racked her brains in search of the reason for such an assumption, but she could not find one. Up ahead, the ensemble of souls of beings turned a corner on the left, and Venus sped up, racing past ornate wooden doors, her eyes fixed upon the place where the group had disappeared. She skidded to a halt just before turning the corner, holding up one hand and motioning for Mars and Mercury to halt as she threw her back against the wall. Breathing silently, she risked a glance around the corner, peering down the next hallway with one eye shut. The group was drifting down another corridor, this time turning right. But to her horror, new hallway was not deserted; a group of electric green skeletons were marching towards them, clad in golden, gladiator-like armour, bearing lethal swords and scythes and maces as weapons.

_No time to explain what's going on, _Venus thought grimly, and with that, she leapt out from behind the corner, causing the skeletons to shriek in alarm.

"A girl!" cried one, in a terrible voice like a saw scraping against a rock, as though he had never seen a girl before. "How'd she get here?"

"Does it matter?" Venus shouted, and without waiting for a reply, she pointed an index finger at the skeletons, her other hand grasping the crook of her arm, and she shouted, "Venus Crescent Beam SMASH!"

A gold current travelled down from the topaz on her tiara and shot down her arm, ballooning in a cloud of golden energy at her shoulder and filing down to a tiny bubble at the tip of her extended finger. With a noise like a bomb exploding, a streaking arc of lethal golden light shout out of her fingertip, and the skeletons only had time to yell in panic before it tore through three of their number, blasting them to pieces, their shattered bones vanishing in wisps of black smoke. The two who had miraculously avoided death gathered their senses and sprinted forwards, pulling their weapons over their shoulders as they unleashed feral war cries and sprinted forwards, enraged snarls upon their faces.

"SHINE AQUA _ILLUSION!" _cried Mercury, leaping out from around the corner and slashing her hands through the air, filling the corridor with a thick, opaque blue fog. Their enemies gave cries of alarm and staggered in their advance, evidently confused, but that did not stop Mars from shouting, "MARS FIRE SNIPER _IGNITE!" _and a bow constructed purely of flames appeared in her outstretched hands. Taking brief aim at the place where she knew the skeletons to be, the Soldier of Fire released her bow's string, unleashing her massive flaming arrow upon their foes, who gave roars of pain as her arrow struck through them, causing both them and Mercury's Aqua Illusion to vanish in a burst of white light.

"Nice work!" Venus hissed, clasping hands with both friends before continuing her sprint forwards. "Let's go!"

Breathing as quietly as they could, Venus, Mars and Mercury streaked down the corridor, their hearts fluttering in panic as they strained to hear the sounds of the soul-bearing group, frightened that they had lost them after the din of the battle. Venus could hear Mercury tapping frantically upon her mini-computer, and tried to block out the sound so that she could listen for the sounds of their queries.

Suddenly, the marble hallway vanished, replaced by a vision she had seen once before. A beautiful marble palace stood in the distance, glowing a mysterious opaline-silver, with hundreds of smaller marble buildings leading up to it, lining a massive rectangular pool of water that reflected the endless expanse of twinkling stars that was the sky above. In the distance hung a small blue planet streaked with wisps of white and jagged slabs of green, a planet that looked all too familiar to Venus...

In less than a second, the vision had gone, but Venus, feeling both bewildered and scared, gave a cry of alarm and stumbled and fell, while Mars and Mercury unleashed united, horrified gasps of, "Sailor Venus!"

"It's okay," Venus gasped, forcing herself to her feet and trying unsuccessfully to shove the image from her mind. "Go, just _go."_

Mars and Mercury exchanged worried looks but continued to sprint forwards, Venus in the lead. She knew that the other two were silently communicating behind her back, but at the moment she didn't care; she had no idea as to what to make of the palace she had just seen, but there were more important things on her mind than her deteriorating state of mind, and she would process it when she was ready.

As they approached another corner, Venus flung herself against the cold marble wall, breathing heavily, and peered craftily around the corner. Another set of massive oaken doors stood at the end of the hallway, and two scantily-clad women stood sentinel on either side of it, both wearing fearsome snarls and carrying wicked blades. Venus pulled back to inform the others of their situation, but Mercury beat her to it, snapping her mini-computer shut and tapping the side of her head and causing her visor to vanish.

"Two guards at the end of the hallway," she informed Venus and Mars briskly. "And the soul snatchers are in the room beyond, but I can't see what's in there, because every time I try, it fries my computer."

"May I have the honours?" Mars asked slyly, turning to Venus, who bowed theatrically, gesturing for her to proceed. Mars winked, then leapt out from around the corner, shouting, "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE _SURROUND!"_

Their opponents only had time to shriek in alarm before several flaming disks erupted out of Mars' fingertips, tearing in a chaotically controlled manner down the corridor, and even though they were out of sight, Venus knew they had hit their marks; the two women screamed in pain and at the same moment, plumes of onyx light flashed from around the corner.

Venus grinned appreciatively and hi fived Mars as she sprinted past her, creeping towards the end of the hallway, her long blonde hair flying out behind her, hoping against hope that Mars had not alerted the group of 'soul-snatchers' as Mercury called them, of their presence. She skidded to a silent halt just in front of the door, and then, motioning for Mercury and Mars to slow down, placed her hand upon the smooth wooden surface, but almost instantly whipped it away, biting back a scream of pain. Though the door swung open, a brief but agonizing electric shock tore up her arm, sending tendrils of pain tearing through her entire body. Mars and Mercury both made angry shushing noises and put their fingers to their lips before slipping past her. Rolling her eyes, Venus followed them, but was almost instantly forced to stop.

Mars and Mercury had stopped barely three feet into the room, and with good reason; the group of hooded figures had spread out in a neat, organized grid, revealing themselves to be over one hundred members strong. Before each of them hovered a glowing white soul, all of them pulsing at irregular times, reminding Venus even more powerfully of bizarre, spherical hearts. The group seemed oblivious to the arrival of the Sailor Soldiers, and, as one, the group murmured, "A gift to the sovereign on darkness, Lady Genesis."

_Lady Genesis, _Venus thought, committing the name to memory. _Thank you, creepy soul people._

In what would have been awingly good choreography under any other circumstances, the souls rose up into air, swirling about like a cluster of insects, and rose up above the heads of the white-robed beings, converging together to form one massive, pulsating white orb, its glistening form shining so brightly it was almost blinding. The orb drifted over the groups heads, who were parting to make a sort of path for it, allowing Venus a clear view as to what was in the center of the room; a circular stone pool hovered unsupported several feet up off the ground, and pillars of dark crimson light were emanating out of both its top and bottom, looking like massive blood splatters against the cold stone walls. The orb pulsated once more, then surged into the stone pool. Venus, who had been expecting it to melt out of the bottom, barely managed to stifle a cry of shock as the howl of deafening winds filled the room, nearly causing her to fall over, while a current of blinding white light blasted off of the pool of light. Neither Mercury nor Mars managed the same restraint as she, and both of her fellows unleashed gasps of horror.

Immediately, the winds were silent, the light from the pool faded back to crimson, and, with exaggerated slowness, the assembled group turned to stare menacingly at the group, haunting red eyes glowing from beneath their hoods.

_Not good, _Venus thought, her stomach dropping through the floor, and sure enough, the figure closest to them raised one thin finger and jabbed in accusingly at their group, screaming, "INTRUDERS!"

"_Run!" _cried Mercury, and the three of them spun around and sprinted back out into the hallway, running so fast that the neon torches were reduced to naught but a continuous blue streak that ran along the walls. Bird-like shrieks echoed off the walls behind them, and Venus knew that the group of people were pursuing them.

_Oh well, _she thought, feeling oddly disconnected from her body as she followed Mercury down the labyrinth of hallways, twisting and turning and squeezing through gaps in a futile attempt to escape from their enemies. _At least they aren't shooting at us._

And of course, that was when a cackling ball of fire soared overhead like a lethal shooting star, its blazing trail illuminating the hallway. The three Soldiers screamed in alarm and Mercury, clearly having enough, flung open one of the wooden doors that lined the hallway and disappeared inside a mass of violet light. Mars followed without hesitation but Venus dug her heels into the ground and cast a glance over her shoulder to check on their plight. The group of figures were flying through the air after them, hoods flying off their faces to revealing tangled manes of trailing black hair and frightening, fanged grey faces, twisted with bloodlust. Their thin arms were outstretched and their clenched fists were glowing with halos of fire, while streaks of the same substance flew like missiles towards her. With a cry of terror Venus threw herself into the light after Mars and Mercury, praying that the group would not follow them.

Of course, if she could have possibly known what was waiting for them inside the room, she would have stayed to fight the soul snatchers.

The throne room was not one of the places you wanted to find yourself in, and that was when the Dark Queen was in a good mood. When she was in a temper, people had been known to be ripped apart and fed to mutated quantum zombies, if they were lucky.

It was here that the woman who had appeared on the moon was now sitting, examining the back of one ghostly pale hand that was resting atop her wrought golden throne's arm. Her gaze was so intense that she might have been hoping to drill a hole in it, when it reality she was thinking about how her assault on Earth was faring. She was just about to stand up and demand that someone inform her of the situation when a deafening crack rent the silence of her throne room apart, accompanied by a flash of white light. The woman looked up slowly, her malicious crimson eyes narrowing as she glared at the one who had interrupted her contemplation.

"Solstice," she murmured, her cruel voice like shards of ice as she stood up slowly, her thin form flickering like the flame she so resembled. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Please, Lady Genesis," gasped the woman before her, dropping hastily to her knees in a low bow, her shocking pink hair falling elegantly into her terrified face. "I have news of utmost importance."

"I hope so," breathed Genesis, for indeed it was she, her voice as poisonous as a snake, and she smiled cruelly as Solstice's form convulsed fearfully. "What is it?"

"Please, my lady, there are intruders in the palace. The ones who have been combating our – I mean, _your _attacks on Earth." Solstice spoke as fast as possible, as though delivering the news quickly would make it less painful for the Dark Queen to hear. Genesis stood motionless, her gaze threatening to bore a hole in Solstice's bowed head, and then, after several seconds, she hissed, "And you know this how?"

Trembling slightly, Solstice raised her head and stared at Genesis with terrified, poisonous yellow eyes, her light grey lips trembling slightly, and, in a cracked voice weak with fear, she stammered, "I-I recognized them, f-from an encounter o-on Earth. They call themselves the S-Sailor Soldiers, my l-lady."

"Do they?" Genesis murmured, her voice barely audible, but made all the more deadly for that. "And perhaps you sought to save them, Solstice? Maybe you have forged a bond with them, and have come to beg for mercy on their behalf?"

"O-of course n-not!" squeaked Solstice, her eyes widening in terror, shaking her head vigorously from side to side, arms trembling visibly now. "I w-would never-"

"Enough," Genesis snapped, and her servant fell silent instantly, fearing for her life. The Dark Queen had not, of course, suspected Solstice of treachery, but since the disastrous first attack on Tokyo, she had not given her a moment's piece of mind. "Show them to me."

"Y-yes, my lady," stammered Solstice, forcing herself to her feet. She clasped her hands together and then pulled them apart sharply, causing a translucent orb of silver light to appear in the space between them. The orb drifted forwards, and as it reached Genesis, it filled with the face of a girl no older than sixteen, with flowing dark blue hair and an expression of utmost concentration upon her face as she slashed her hands through the air, unleashing a positive tidal wave of water upon an invisible foe. A pang of familiarity swept through Genesis as she stared at the girl, but before she could take a closer look, she morphed into another, this time a girl with long black hair and with sharp, alert features, intimidatingly beautiful, and two index fingers were pressed together to form a pretend gun as a curling mass of roaring amber flames erupted out of her fingertips, taking on the form of several fiery disks that streaked forwards with utmost purpose. Another pang of familiarity coursed through her, but, almost predictably, the girl changed once more, this time becoming a girl with long, flowing blonde hair that flew out behind her, her dark blue eyes sparkling with fury as she drew her gloved hands up to face level and unleashed a mass of golden light from them.

"Gah!" Genesis cried, staggering backwards, alarm etched upon every line of her face as she placed the face of the third girl. Slashing one hand through the air, she caused the orb to vanish, and she stared unseeingly into space, breathing heavily, her mind reeling, spiralling back towards the day of her outrageous defeat, the face of her mortal enemy haunting her mind.

_Her, _the Dark Queen thought, heart fluttering in panic. _She managed to survive after all. I was right to think she had taken refuge on Earth then...Very well, she must be stopped! _Lowering her clasped hand from her chest, Genesis mastered her breathing and, flicking her curling ruby hair out of her face, focused her attention once more upon Solstice, who was staring intently at her, her face a mixture of terror and concern.

"M-my lady -?" she stammered, but Genesis silenced her with a sharp wave of her hand. Restless, she paced around her wrought golden throne in circles, hands folded behind her back as a plan began to form in her mind. After several moments, she spoke, and though her icy voice was soft, it was ringing with urgency.

"They must be stopped and found, Solstice," Genesis murmured, and Solstice nodded slowly, yellow eyes still wide with fright, as though the Dark Queen were an unstable animal that could strike at any moment. "I am confident that they will not be able to escape from the Moon Kingdom, but the quicker you find them, the better. The blonde one-"

"Sailor Venus," Solstice offered, but then regret consumed her terrified face as Genesis fixed her with a glare of utmost venom.

"I don't care what her name is," the Dark Queen hissed, and her voice was so dangerous that Solstice flinched at each syllable. "All I care about is you finding those girls. I want them all alive, make no mistake, but the blonde must not be harmed. Imprison her separately from the other two; I will not take chances with her this time, that was my downfall during in the close of the wretched Silver Millennium.

"Mess this up, Solstice, and I will ensure that you, like Equinox here-" Genesis waved a hand over her shoulder, and a thick column of light illuminated the corner of the marble throne room, throwing a splayed figure into sharp relief. "- suffer my...displeasure. Isn't that right, Equinox?"

The man did not answer; he had not spoken for hours, and the last time he had used his voice, it had been to scream in agony. He now lay in a bloody heap in the corner, limbs splayed at unnatural angles, and the Dark Queen knew that at least one of his legs were broken. His grey face was slashed beyond recognition, his embroidered black robes ripped to rags, long black hair matted with sweat and blood, and his bright yellow eyes were hooded, unseeing slits in his eye sockets. Quite frankly, Genesis did not care if he spoke another word. Smiling cruelly, she turned to her head back to Solstice, who was staring, transfixed with horror, at Equinox's broken form, her yellow eyes reflecting the horrific scene like glassy orbs.

"Can you handle this task, Solstice?" Genesis demanded, and her servant gave a huge start, turning to stare in terror at the Dark Queen once more, looking like she was fighting down the urge to scream. "Or shall I give it to someone more qualified?"

"No, I will see that it is done, my lady," Solstice whispered, her voice a hoarse croak. Forcing her trembling form into a bow, the woman turned on the spot and, in a flash of her onyx robes, had vanished.

_Let's hope so, _Genesis thought maliciously, and she curled her fingers into her palm as a halo of purple energy appeared around it. With a terrifying snarl of a laugh, she turned back to face Equinox, whispering, "Now...where were we?"


	5. Fight or Flight?

"_This _is your idea of a safe haven?" Mars demanded her voice sharp with exasperation as she gazed about at their new surroundings. Mercury had landed them in some sort of wasteland, the ground flat and barren, the colour of palest white sand, stretching out in every direction, reaching out to join with the blank white sky, devoid of sun or moon. There was no temperature, no break in the bleakness.

There was no escape.

"No, I don't," Mercury retorted, pulling out her mini computer and tapping on it with blinding speed, causing her tinted blue scanner to appear over her eyes. "In fact, this whole place is brimming with Nega energy. It's messing with my readings, because -" she broke off suddenly, her eyes widening incredulously behind the mass of technological readings clambering for her attention.

"Because _what?" _Venus prompted her, fearing something horrible. Mercury shook her head slowly, looking completely bewildered as she tapped the side of her head, causing her scanner to vanish. She turned to face Venus and Mars, her eyes glistening with doubt.

"We are, apparently, on the moon."

Mars sniggered, clearly as unimpressed as Mercury, but before Venus could react to the information, her head gave an agonizing throb, her vision tunnelled and she felt as though she were rocketing forwards at an impossibly fast rate. With a gasp of pain, she fell to her knees, her hands clawing at the side of her head, eyes clenched shut.

"_VENUS!" _shouted Mars and Mercury, falling onto their knees on either side of her, clutching desperately at her arms.

"A palace," Venus whispered, her eyes sliding open and glassing over as her mind was assaulted with the image of the beautiful marble palace once more. "A white marble palace with a pool of water in front of it, and in the distance," her eyes shifted slightly in their unfocused state. "-a blue planet with swirling white clouds..._Earth."_

Her eyes snapped abruptly back into focus, instantly widening in horror. "What's happening to me?" she moaned, cradling her head in her arms. These visions frightened her more than they enlightened her, for she was certain that she had never seen the palace before, and yet with each of her visions came a pang of overpowering familiarity.

"Venus!" shouted Mercury, yanking her arms away from her face and pulling her to her feet. "What – I don't-"

"This happened before, remember Venus?" Mars said slowly, a slight frown on her face as she spoke, clearly not listening to anything Mercury was saying. "When we were running towards that last orb on Earth. And just now, when we were running down that hallway..."

She let herself trail off, and Venus could feel her eyes fixed upon her bowed head, coupled with Mercury's almost burning stare. She stared hard at the ground for a moment, then murmured, "My visions always show things that are about to happen, but whenever I see that palace, I feel like...like I've been there before, yet I'm sure I haven't. Unless...unless we're supposed to _go _to that palace, but..."she gestured helplessly at their barren surroundings. There was no palace anywhere in sight.

"So this would mean we really _are _on the moon," Mercury muttered, sounding slightly stunned as she stared about them.

"Right you are!" came a shrill, girlish cry that seemed to emanate out from the air itself. All three Soldiers gasped and skipped backwards, compressing into a tight back-to-back triangle, tensed in poses of various offense or defence, glaring about themselves for the source of the voice.

The person came into view slowly, ghostly and insubstantial at first, but then solidifying into a terrifyingly substantial enemy. The woman who had attacked them back on Earth stood before them, her shocking pink hair flying out around her in the non-existent wind, sparkling white teeth bared menacingly.

"You!" Mars gasped, slipping into a lower half-crouch.

The woman, who Venus remembered was called Solstice, flashed them a smile of pure evil. "Me. I see you three pom-pom toting fools haven't figured out what's best for you yet."

"What's best for us is bad for you," Mercury retorted, clenching her fists. "So if I were you, I'd start running."

Solstice threw back her head and laughed an insane, high-pitched sound. "Start running?" the alien guffawed, panting slightly as she returned to sanity. "You are in the realm of Lady Genesis! You are fools, each and every one of you, to challenge the power of the Dark Queen!"

"It doesn't look like she rules much of an empire," noted Venus, feeling more scornful than she felt. The alien narrowed her eyes, a malicious snarl upon her face as she glared at the three of them, hate emanating out from her in waves.

"Idiot," she hissed, her voice barely louder than a whisper, more deadly than the most potent venom. _"This _plain is not worthy of Lady Genesis' rule. Unfortunately, that's not something any of you will ever get to see. It's time to step up!"

Lightning fast, she plunged her hand into her black jumpsuit's pocket and hurled its contents at them before any of them could react. Mercury and Mars cried out in alarm and threw themselves to the side, but Venus only had time to widen her eyes in surprise and she crossed her arms in front of her face, clenching her eyes shut. No sooner had she done this than what felt like choking, almost solid smoke engulfed her, roaring so loud it could have rivalled a tidal wave, the ferocious wind pulling at her hair and clothes. Knowing that whatever it was, it was probably deadly, Venus cupped one hand over her mouth and nose and staggered forwards, her other arm groping blindly around, but the smoke was already disintegrating.

Timidly, Venus' let her eyes slide open, and at the same time, a blast of freezing cold air hit her straight in the face, nearly knocking her over. Her breath rushed out of her lungs in a surprised huff as she took in her surroundings; where there had only been blank space was a plain just as bleak as the one she had previously occupied, except now she was knee deep in blinding white snow. The sky had transformed into a midnight blue, the wind was ferocious and bitter cold, and flurries of snowflakes cluttered the air.

"Argh!" she cried out, throwing her arms around herself in an effort to conserve her body heat. "It's _freezing!"_

"Tell me about it," Mercury said through chattering teeth, staggering forwards.

"That witch had better watch her back," growled Mars, shaking snow from her sheet of long black hair. "Where did she go, anyway?"

Mercury, who did not seem to be listening, was scanning their surroundings from behind her dark blue visor. After several seconds, she tapped the side of her head, causing the piece of technology to vanish. "It's an illusion, guys," she informed them, gesturing to their barren surroundings. "She's probably trying to mess with us."

"Think those are an illusion?" Venus asked, her eyes narrowing to slits as she pointed to a spot some ten feet away. Mars and Mercury whirled around, and the two of them gasped in unison; all around them, people were rising out of the snow, effectively trapping them in a tight circle. They were composed of opaque, crystalline blue ice, with flowing sapphire hair and slanting onyx eyes that radiated hatred. Their fingers were rigid, three foot-long claws and dagger sharp, and there was a cold fury upon each of their faces that made the temperature seem boiling hot.

Before either of her companions could respond, the women flung themselves at them, emitting shrieking, high-pitched war cries, drawing their hands menacingly over their shoulders. Venus dashed forwards to meet them, her heart pounding deafeningly in her ears, the only thought in her head staying alive.

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!" _she shouted, pointing an index finger at her approaching enemies. A bubble of golden light formed at her fingertip and exploded off of her with a laseresque explosion of noise, rocketing towards her enemies in the form of a concentrated beam of golden-white light. The nearest two gave piercing screams of agony as the beam impaled them, causing them to shatter into a hundred jagged, dagger-like shards that sprinted in every direction. Venus somersaulted to avoid the shrapnel and popped fluidly to her feet, just in time to see the nearest woman slash her hand through the air, aiming for her throat. With a gasp of surprise, Venus caught the monster's freezing wrist when her claws were inches from her throat. For a moment, they were both frozen, shocked at her narrow escape from death, and then Venus unfroze and lashed out in a hard kick, her high heel sending a spider web of cracks running across the woman's torso.

"VENUS, GET DOWN!" screamed Mars, her voice made high out of panic. Venus immediately threw herself into the snow, rolling to the side to avoid giving her enemy an open target, while Mars shouted, "MARS FLAME SNIPER _IGNITE!" _ and causing a massive arrow composed entirely of flame to rocket past her, tearing through the torsos of three of the ice women before vanishing in an explosion of sparks.

"Nice!" Venus shouted, turning her head in the direction of Mars, but before she could say anything else, she cut herself off with a gasp of horror she saw three of the women advancing upon the Soldier of Fire from behind.

"Look _out!" _she cried, throwing herself in front of Mars, and with the skill of an expert combatant, she kneed the closest foe in the stomach and, as she doubled over in pain, threw her over her shoulder. Before the next woman could slash her to bits, she sashayed out of harm's way and then, lightning fast, seized the woman's outstretched arm and spun her around, slingshotting her into her companion.

"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" screamed Mercury from somewhere behind them, and both Venus and Mars turned to see their companion slash her hands through the air and send a veritable tidal wave of opaque, icy blue smoke at the half-dozen remaining foes, who gave pig-like squeals of pain and confusion as they were engulfed.

"Nice work Mercu- _ARGH!" _Venus cut herself off with a gasp of pain as, without warning, an icy body disentangled itself from the mist and slammed into her with crushing force, sending her flying backwards through the air. She was caught by two impossibly strong, cold arms, which held her against an icy chest in an unbreakable grip. Her enemy clamped one of their freezing cold hands over her mouth so that she could not talk, and Venus writhed and twisted, shouting muffled pleas for help to Mars and Mercury, both of whom were entangled in separate battles, trying to kick out the shins of her captor, but to no avail; the ice woman seemed to be immune to such pathetic blows.

Venus was forced to watch in relative silence as Mercury, who had a gash on one cheek, was seized from behind and held captive by one of the five remaining woman, who had both of her arms held in the crook of her icy elbows, cackling malevolently. The monsters seemed to have come up with a sort of plan, for the moment they saw that both Venus and Mercury were incapacitated, the three remaining women flung themselves forwards, reaching out towards the Soldier of Fire with clawed hands, murder on their faces-

"What the -?" Mars gasped, her power not recovered enough to defend herself, but instead of being attacked by monsters, they melted and warped, surrounding her in a sort of jagged pyramid of ice around her, clear enough so that Venus and Mercury could see her. With an electric cackle, bolts of jagged green energy lashed out from the sides of the crystal and assaulted Mars' form, causing the Soldier of Flame to fall to her knees, her back arched to breaking point, head thrown back and emitting a scream of pain that neither she nor Mercury could hear, though the agony was plain upon her face-

"NUGH!" shouted Venus, writhing just as violently as Mars in a desperate attempt to get free. "LET – ME – GO! LET – ME – _OH!"_

Her demand died in her throat, for horror had clawed its way up her throat, effectively paralyzing her. Mars had suddenly stopped screaming and collapsed against her prison, her long, dark hair falling into her face as she lay slumped against the glass, as limp as a ragdoll-

There was a deafening _CRACK! _and then Mars, her crystal, the ice women and the snowy plain on which they were stranded vanished, depositing them in an endless expanse of hot white sand, just as bleak as the snowy plain they had just left. Tendrils of heat rocketed towards them from the shimmering sun that hung high above them, but Venus did not care; she sank to her knees, her grief too great for tears, staring with wide, agonized eyes at the place where her friend had vanished.

_No...no..._she thought, a dull ring echoing throughout her empty mind. _Mars can't be...she's not-_

"GIVE – HER – _BACK!" _screamed Mercury, and Venus' head snapped up painfully fast. Mercury was on her feet, a wild, inhumane rage etched upon her face, her hands balled into shaking fists, shoulders shaking with lividness. "RETURN SAILOR MARS! HOW DARE YOU – HOW _DARE _YOU -"

"Calm down, Mercury!" Venus gasped, half afraid, half awed; she had never seen her lose control like this. She staggered upright and seized her by the shoulders, but Mercury shrugged her off, her normally calm blue eyes blazing with a hatred that was suddenly directed at her.

"Don't you tell me what to do, Sailor Venus!" she raged, kicking at the sand in anger, fury and agony plain upon her face. "I will _not _calm down, not until they RETURN – MARS!" she screamed the last two words, throwing her head back so that she could glare up into the heavens.

Venus, not at all about to enjoy what she was about to do, strode forwards and slapped Mercury lightly across the face, a sound that echoed hauntingly throughout the desert. Mercury staggered back, her fingertips touching the angry red mark that had formed upon her cheek, looking stunned. For a split second, Venus thought she was going to attack her, but then Mercury seemed to wilt, the rage departing her body, and she sagged forwards, leaning heavily on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her eyes clenched shut, not quite able to stem the flow of her tears. "I didn't mean to – it's just -"

"No," Venus told her sternly, prying her friend off her shoulder and holding her at arm's length. "It's okay. A freak out once every fifteen years is something I'd kill for. Rei used to-" she broke off abruptly, as the enormity of their predicament hit her; they had lost Mars, who was either dead or incapacitated, and they themselves were trapped in an endless wasteland controlled by their enemies, with no escape route and limited help.

_But there's got to be a way out of this, _she told herself desperately. _There always is!_

"Venus," Mercury began suddenly, but she cut her off.

"Don't apologize," she told her emphatically. "I told you, it's -"

"No, _look!" _Mercury pointed past her, her fast drained of colour. Venus turned sharply, and her breath caught in her chest, freezing in horror.

About twenty creatures were standing some fifteen feet away from them, looking like humanoid cactuses, prickly and green with short, curly red hair. Their clothing was scarce, and in the glare of the sun they looked oddly intimidating.

Venus clenched her fists and stepped forwards, but Mercury caught her arm, saying, "No! Think about what happened to Mars! There are too many of them!"

Venus couldn't help but agree, though only grudgingly. "We need some sort of a plan," she murmured, not taking her eyes off of the motionless newcomers. "And if we don't attack them, we don't have many options."

"Leave it to me," Mercury declared, releasing Venus' arm and presumably drawing her mini computer.

But no sooner had she done this than the cactus-like demons let out barbaric cries and ran forwards, punching the air above their heads. Venus automatically assumed a defensive half-crouch in front of Mercury and, discarding her warning, she put one hand to her lips and shouted, "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTY _SHOCK!"_

She clenched her fist around the golden heart that had appeared in her hand and hurled it forwards, sending a fleet of lethal-looking golden hearts rocketing forwards, deadly and streaking. But at the same time, a sinister chorus of metallic _shinks! _rent the air, and sharp silver needles launched themselves forwards, coming seemingly from the skin of their enemies. With a cry of alarm, she turned and launched herself through the air, unceremoniously tackling the oblivious Mercury so that she wouldn't get hit. As the fleet of needles shot overhead, Mercury shouted, "Don't let any of those needles hit you! They're designed to knock you out!"

"Just great!" Venus hissed, leaping to her feet and dragging Mercury up with her. "So now our only option is to -"

"RUN!" yelled Mercury, darting away from their approaching foes. Venus charged after her, but was slowed down somewhat by the thick sand, and coupled with looking back every few seconds and being forced to dive out of the way of seemingly endless swarms of lethal silver needles, she would have been better off standing for a fight.

"STOP!" gasped Mercury, skidding to a halt and typing furiously on her computer. Venus dug her heels into the sand and whipped around, readying herself to defend Mercury, who was hopefully on the brink of a solution to their predicament.

_I don't care what she said, I'm not letting these bimbos take free shots at us! _she vowed, readying her energy for a Meteor Strike.

"VENUS!" she yelled, and as a thick column of golden energy surrounded her form, half of the women vanished in a whirl of sandy wind, reappearing in a tight circle around them, with her at its center.

_Oh no._

One of the women cackled, tossing her curly red hair out of her lime green eyes. She may have said something, but her heart was pounding too loudly in her ears to make them out clearly, and she couldn't have repeated the words for the life of her.

And then, sharp, glinting needles were coming at her from every side, too fast for her to duck under, too numerous to dodge around. In a burst of adrenaline-fuelled strength, Venus let out a scream of concentration and threw her arms out from her sides, her golden shield erupting around to life around her, sending the needles rebounding off of it. The needles rocketed in every direction, some towards the sky, others burying themselves in the sand, but for the most part they rammed back into their launchers, whose insane cackles cut off with unnatural abruptness. Every woman who was struck looked down in horror at the places they had been hit, but before they could do more than utter choking gasps, they vanished in noisy cracks of glittering jade light.

_How many times can I cheat capture? _she asked herself, but she couldn't keep a self-satisfied grin from spreading across her face; she had done it, she had saved them both-

But then, a bewildered cry of surprise and pain shattered her concentration, and with it her shield. Her subconsciousness realized what it meant before her awareness could, and she could not understand why her heart was pounding horror through her veins as opposed to blood, or why she suddenly felt faint. Whirling around, she saw Mercury sinking to her knees, arms wrapped tightly around her stomach, a dozen needles protruding from her arms and sides.

"_NO!" _Venus screamed in denial, desperately seizing Mercury and holding her shaking form upright. "NO, MERCURY, _NO!"_

Mercury's closed eyes fluttered open, a weak smile upon her lips as she focused upon Venus' agonized face with some difficulty. "You...can do this," she whispered. "All this...is just...an illusion." But with a tiny gasp her head fell back, face blank, unknowing, and in a flash of white light she and the desert vanished, leaving Venus alone, standing upon the barren grey wasteland once more, feeling worse than she had in her entire life.

_Did I just imprison Mercury? _she asked herself, horrified at the thought of such a thing, and yet, deep in her heart, she knew it to be true. At the price of saving herself, she had sacrificed her friend, something that the Sailor Soldiers were absolutely against.

She felt sick, dirt, and contaminated. Her arms were still frozen in front of her, as though holding an invisible Mercury upright, her eyes huge with shock. With a little gag, she unfroze, in favour of collapsing weakly upon the hard grey ground beneath her.

"Mercury...Mars..." she whispered, her voice a weak croak. "What have I done?"

"You'll be joining them soon enough!" cackled a cold, scalding voice, and Venus recognized that the voice belonged to Solstice, the reason why Mars and Mercury were not with her now, the woman who, not fifteen minutes ago, she had been cockily taunting.

Venus forced herself to her feet and turned slowly, staring at the alien with eyes flaming with hate, meeting her enemies cold onyx eyes with an effort that felt like it would kill her. A malicious smile was fixed upon her face, and her pink-haired head was tilted slightly to the side in an almost contemplating fashion.

"You think so, don't you?" Venus laughed mirthlessly, because she knew it would infuriate her opponent. "Do you think you're confusing me, with your stupid mind games and pathetic little friends?"

The woman's cocky smile became an angry snarl. "It's not a question of thinking," she hissed, clenching her fists. "But of knowing; you cannot hope to defeat me, Lady Genesis' greatest fighter!"

"Well then, she must have a pathetic bunch of goons for company," Venus noted, and a smile devoid of a trace of warmth played about her lips. "I know exactly what's going on; your little tricks haven't fooled any of us. I know exactly where we are. This field -" she waved her hand carelessly at the plain. "-is just a big illusion. And _you're _just a dispensable henchwoman!"

"Shut _up!" _bawled the woman, a terrifying snarl upon her face, and with an inhumane cry she ran forwards, murder on her face-

Not for nothing, though, was Venus the leader of the Sailor Soldiers. She growled softly and leaped forwards to meet her foe, ducking under her wild kick and aiming a punch at her gut, but Solstice danced back and unleashed a vicious flurry of lightning fast punches upon her. Impressed, Venus blocked the worst of the blows with the sides of her arms, but not even she could avoid every blow, and received a couple of painful jabs to her torso.

"Is that the best you've got?" Venus asked in a low hiss, when they both broke apart, gasping for breath. Solstice let out a scream of rage and lurched forwards, zombie-like, but Venus lashed out in an angry kick that connected with her foe's stomach and, without giving her time to retaliate, she unleashed her own mass of sharp kicks and punches, but to her dismay, the alien found these just as easy to block as she did hers. The woman blocked one of her more ferocious kicks with her elbow, letting out a savage hiss, and Venus, unstabled, staggered backwards.

There was a beat of tense, frozen silence, and then, quicker than she could react, the woman delivered her a harsh backhand blow across the face. With a gasp of pain, Venus spun through the air and landed heavily on her side, her cheek pounding painfully. Though it hurt, she was not seriously injured, and her whimpers of pain and terror were not, in fact, authentic.

Solstice, however, was easily fooled. "You see?" she crowed triumphantly, and by the sounds of her light footfalls she was stalking forwards. "Maybe you were able to defeat the Snow Ladies, and through luck and chance you survived my Desert Swarm, but you are not match for me! This is _my _domain, Sailor Venus, and in my domain, _I _am the one still standing! I don't even know _why _Lady Genesis is bothering to capture you!"

"Believe me," Venus muttered, her voice deadly quiet. "You will." And she leapt to her feet, spinning around to face her frozen foe and placing her fingertip upon the cluster of black crescent moons upon Solstice's forehead, she yelled, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!"_

Her arc of light slammed into the alien's forehead with the force of a bomb, and with a sickening, high-pitched scream, a current of blinding white light ran down Solstice's form, reducing her to nothing more than a glowing silhouette, while their surroundings became the icy wasteland once more, morphing instantly into a grassy night time field and then transformed into a sweltering jungle before becoming the cold, rocky surface of the moon. Venus caught a glimpse of the stunning white marble palace she had seen in her visions, and in that brief second, a powerful pang of remembrance coursed through her, making her certain that, no matter how absurd it sounded, she had been to that palace before.

And then, with a shriek of, _"NO!" _the silhouette that was Solstice exploded into a million glittering fragments, which fell around Venus like snowflakes. She stood there, unable to move for her shock, and only unfroze when soft, ghostly laughter echoed throughout the barren face of the moon. Jumping violently, Venus' hand flew to her throat as she turned slowly on the spot, sharp blue eyes scanning the starry heavens, searching fruitlessly for the source.

"Who's there?" she demanded, while a paralyzing fear clawed its way up her body. The laughter intensified and then, out of nowhere, a large orb of red light appeared some ten feet away. For a second that stretched into eternity, Venus stared at the orb, foreboding keeping her rooted to the spot, her eyes widening in horror as she realized what was about to happen.

And then, lightning fast, the orb shot forwards, melting through her body and expanding so that she had been swallowed as neatly as a whale clamping its mouth shut on a goldfish. Immediately, her horror morphed into exhaustion, and Venus felt herself plummeting into blackness. The last thing she heard was a bone-chilling voice declare, "Checkmate."

Lady Genesis smiled in satisfaction as she watched, through her crystal orb, the girl called Sailor Venus be swallowed by her orb of red light. Though she was mildly impressed at how she had defeated Solstice with apparent ease, whose destruction caused her no grievance, Genesis was relieved to see that this girl, the ghost from a past that she could barely remember due to her years of exile, was no match for her own incredible power.

_So, _she thought, standing up from her ornate golden throne. _The guardians of that infuriating little planet have all been captured. _Why, _then, are my attempt to capture the souls of the humans below still being thwarted?_

Pacing back and forth around her nearly empty throne room, Genesis considered many reasons for these failures; that these girls she was battling with were mere doubles, while the real ones ran about Earth, that their powers were even greater than hers and they were protecting the Earth while they battled her, even the possibility that her own powers were not as strong as before.

Each seemed just as unlikely as the last.

The Moon Princess must be at the heart of it all," Genesis murmured, remembering the one called Venus. "I need to stop her from delaying my collection of human souls, or I will not gain enough energy to track down the other eight princesses." Then, as an afterthought, "If only I knew who they were."

She halted abruptly as she remembered her blunder. "Malicite!" she barked, turning her head to the side. "Wake up, you pathetic dog!"

There was an agonized groan from the corner in which the man was crumpled, but no more than that. Spitefully regarding this as the most answer she would get, Genesis continued in a harsh, cold voice. "As you have not had the good sense to die yet, you will make yourself useful and guard the prisoner I have recently acquired. "

"M-my lady," stammered Malicite, his voice so weak and pitiful that anyone but she would not have been able to resist helping him. "I...I am b-broken, unable t-to guard-"

"Silence," hissed Genesis. "I am not blind, Malicite. And as much as it pains me to do so..." she waved a ghostly white hand through the air, and a lavender current ran over her servant's body, raising him to his feet. Looking stunned, Malicite raised a trembling hand, staring wonderingly at the unmarked green flesh, feeling his unmarred face.

"My lady!" he gasped wildly, his eyes wide, lips trembling. "I don't know how to thank you!"

"I do," Genesis snapped icily, effectively cutting off her servant's blabbering. "You can guard the girl who calls herself Sailor Venus." She waved her hand through the air beside her head, causing a holographic Venus to appear beside her. "Do not harm her; her life is infinitely more valuable to me than yours."

Malicite, refusing to be cowed by the menace in her voice, nodded once, then turned to leave, his black cape fluttering slightly. Genesis watched him through narrowed eyes, then called, "And Malicite?"

The man stopped, turning his pointed green head to look over his shoulder at her. A foreboding smile curved the Dark Queen's painted red lips as she glared into Malicite's eyes, murmuring, "Do not allow her to escape. If she does, I will ensure that she does not have the pleasure of killing you."


	6. Encounter! Genesis, the Beautiful Tyrant

Sailor Venus opened her eyes as abruptly as if someone had screamed in her ear. As she stared bewilderedly at her surroundings, she wondered briefly if she was still dreaming, but then decided that the latter was impossible.

She was lying in a perfectly circular space, about twenty meters in diameter, and surrounding her on every side was a translucent, violent orange wall at least thirty feet high, beyond which was open space, extending endlessly in every direction. Unfamiliar constellations and strange, multicoloured clouds of light hung about her, and in the distance, a sliver of silver moon broke the uniform, twinkling black.

The floor beneath her was uncomfortably warm, and was a chaotic blend of electric blue, light lavender, and brilliant white, with jagged currents of cyan light streaking across it in every direction, like insubstantial snakes.

_So, _Venus thought, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. _I'm no longer on the moon. But then how am I still alive? _She may have let being able to breathe on the moon slide, but this, floating aimlessly in empty space, was impossible; there was no air in outer space.

_And if this is outer space, where's Earth? _She asked herself, scouring the star-strewn sky for a sign of the blue planet, but, to her confusion and dismay, she found that she could not see it.

A flame of anger blossomed up in her chest, and she forced herself off the warm ground and got heavily to her feet, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face. She crossed the distance between her and the side of the wall, her footsteps echoing piercingly across her platform as she did so, until she was standing mere feet away from the edge of the orange barrier. She glared at it for a moment, listening to the faint, continuous hum coming from it, and then, with a disdainful "Hmph!" she slammed her clenched fist upon it. A crack of noise rent the air, and a spider web of yellow bolts of light ran across the orange, but for the small fraction of a second her hand was touching the barrier, terrible pain coursed through her, a hundred times more painful than anything she had ever endured. With a scream, Venus staggered backwards, clutching her injured hand to her chest, her breath coming in short, startled bursts.

As her hand throbbed, Venus surveyed the height of her prison with new eyes, grudgingly applauding Lady Genesis' cunning; if she was honest with herself, she had not expected slamming her hand to cause any noticeable damage to the barrier, and in hindsight realized she should not have touched it at all.

_Very clever, _she applauded the barrier mockingly. _But can you take _this?

Pointing her right index finger at the place she had hit the barrier, Venus narrowed her eyes and, holding on to the crook of her outstretched arm with her free arm, shouted, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!"_

On the last word, there was a laseresque explosion of noise, and a concentrated beam of blinding gold light blasted itself out of her fingertip, rocketing towards the barrier at lightning-fast speed. But to Venus' horror, her attack rebounded off the wall and shot straight towards her. With a cry of surprise, she dove out of harm's way, and not a second too soon; she could feel the heat from her Crescent Beam as it roared overhead, and she straightened up to see it bouncing chaotically off the floor and walls like a burningly bright tennis ball, each collision bringing with it a gong-like boom, until it was moving so fast that it was naught but a continuous streak of light and painful burst of sound-

Though she had been expecting it, it came as no less of a shock when her own attack slammed into her, an act that sent her flying backwards with the force of a small bomb, pain tearing up her stomach and through her body in jagged, electric bursts. Her eyes widened in utmost horror when she realized what she had condemned herself too, but that was all she had time to do, for it was too late.

Venus collided into the barrier with bone-crushing force, but the impact was quickly driven from her mind as pain took seized her, eclipsing every other feeling in her body so completely that she couldn't have spoken her own name. A high pitched, blood-curdling scream wrenched itself from her lips, screeching over the electrical cackle that was coming from the barrier she was pinned against, and the very air seemed to have turned to acid, every nerve in her body was on fire, the blood in her veins had become poison. She felt like the whole world had been converted into her own personal hell, and the torture that had been her Crescent Beam was nothing, _nothing, _compared to the agony that she was being forced to endure.

But how do you endure something impossible?

She thought that the pain must end, that someone, surely, would come to rescue her, that no being could watch another being put through this much pain. She thought that she should have long since slipped down the wall, but it was as though a flaming, gargantuan hand was pinning her against the barrier, crushing every sane thought that tried to form itself in her mind, and for all she knew, there was one, but she was blinded by the agony that insisted on tearing mercilessly through her body, and her screams intensified in volume by a tenfold when somehow, impossibly, the torture increased.

Venus could not take it anymore. Her brain shut down, unwilling and unable to endure another second of mortal agony, and it was with something almost like relief that she spiralled back into blackness, her own screams still ringing in her ears.

Not far away, Sailors Mars and Mercury were imprisoned in their own cell, which was neither as strange nor as dangerous as Venus'. Mars was slumped against the cold stone wall behind her, her long dark hair falling into her pale face, unaware that Mercury, who in her sleep looked to be no older than a ten-year old, was collapsed atop her stomach.

Sailor Mercury opened her eyes, just like Venus had, as abruptly as if someone had screamed in her ear. For a moment, she merely stared in front of her, daring to believe that everything that had just happened had all been a dream, and that she had merely passed out after her biology exam and was lying in the gym. Then, _Don't be stupid. Exams don't come with this much pain._

She groaned softly and forced herself upright, pressing the heel of her hand against her temple as she stared dazedly about herself. "Mars?" she whispered, seeing the Soldier of Fire slumped against the wall. "Mars, wake -"

But she was cut off by a terrible, high-pitched shriek of utmost agony. Mars' head jerked up, her dark eyes wide, perfectly alert, while Mercury leapt to her feet, her heart pounding loudly in her ears.

"Who was that?" Mars hissed, pushing herself to her feet, neither of them registering that Venus was not with them. Then, as she looked around her cell, "Where are we?"

Suddenly, the air was rent apart by the return of the screams, except now they were twenty times louder, and made infinitely more horrible by the amount of pain that was etched in each second it sounded. Mercury and Mars' eyes locked onto the other's, both widening in horror as they took in the absence of their leader.

"There's no way out," Mercury whispered, her face draining of colour, voice no louder than a hoarse whisper as she scoured their doorless stone prison.

"VENUS!" screamed Mars, sprinting forwards and throwing her shoulder powerfully against the stone wall. _"VENUS!"_

Mercury rushed over to stand beside her friend, maddened by desperation and rage, slamming her clenched fists against the wall over and over again, the sound of her flesh hitting the stone echoing dully off their cell walls, while Venus' screaming grew louder and louder, agony that was unendurable even for a bystander to hear.

How long they pounded against the wall they did not know; Mercury was only aware that some amount of time had passed because suddenly, their leader's screaming cut off abruptly in the middle. Mars froze in mid-slam, while Mercury paused for a split second before resting both her bruised hands against the wall, leaning her forehead against its cool surface.

"No," Mars said, her voice ringing with desperation and defiance as she guessed Mercury's thoughts. "Absolutely not. Venus is _not _dead."

The Soldier of Fire glared at her companion until she looked up slowly, her intense stare boring defiantly into her eyes like a laser beam, willing her not to give up hope. Slowly, Mercury's hopeless expression morphed and solidified into a hard mask of determination, and, in a voice that just barely betrayed her mask of calm, whispered, "Of course. There's no way -"she swallowed hard, then continued. "Just gimme a sec to check this place out."

She tapped the side of her head, causing her dark blue visor to appear over her eyes, a mass of technological readouts obscuring her vision. Mars watched as she strode about the room, muttering quietly to herself as she scoured their empty prison. Suddenly, Mercury screamed in fear and pain, whipped her visor off her face and kicked it away from her. The piece of priceless technology spun across the floor with a screeching noise, blackened and smoking.

"What? What happened?" Mars demanded, running to her friend's side. Mercury's eyes were huge and shrewd, her breath came in short gasps, and her hair was smoking slightly.

"It...it burned me!" she exclaimed, sounding outraged that such a thing dared to occur. "I was scanning the room for weak spots, but the readings suddenly scrambled up and it burst into flame!"

Though the news should have brought anything but excitement to her, Mars felt the emotion boiling up inside her like fireworks about to explode. "Did you find the weak spot, Mercury?"she demanded, grabbing her friend tightly by the shoulders.

Mercury closed her eyes and bowed her head, which was answer enough; Mars' anticipating smile faded into oblivion as the flickering match that was her hope was dropped into an ocean of despair. As her grip on her friend slackened, Mercury shook her head, sounding scandalized as she said ruefully, "There are dangerous forces at work here, Mars; even science can't beat them!"

_Yeah? _Mars thought, bitter tears sliding down her cheeks as she sank to her knees. _Imagine that?_

As Venus drifted through absolute blackness, she knew that her life may very well have been draining out of her. She also knew that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

It was bliss, to not have to think, to move, to breathe, just to float, to simply _exist _in a world that had no war or fear or pain. She would have been quite happy to stay there if it had not been for the odd thoughts that kept drifting across her mind.

_You must save Earth! _A voice in her head shouted, though the blackness was so thick that it ended up sounding more like a warped and twisted murmur.

But what was Earth?

_Don't be stupid! _Bawled the voice, a little louder this time. _Earth! Your home!_

She had a home?

_Of course you have a home! Do you think you live in this hellhole? You share a home, with Sailor Mars and Mercury?_

Those names caused a slight stir in her memory, so powerful were they that they forced the overwhelming blackness back a couple inches. _I know those names, _she thought, frowning slightly. _But I need more._

_FINE! _Shouted the voice of her Herculean strength. _You want names? I'll give you names! Rei! Ami! Solstice! Equinox! Lady Genesis!_

And on the last word, her mind's eye exploded into action, assaulted with dozens of flashing images, and had her concentration lapsed for a second, she would have missed half of them; Sailor Mars, twisting and writhing and screaming in agony, trapped inside a translucent crystal of ice; Sailor Mercury, slumping forwards, dozens of needles sticking out of her arms and torso, transforming her into a sort of human pincushion; Solstice's light grey face, contorted with fury as she lashed out at her, her hands glowing with magic, and then her Crescent Beam, rebounding off a violent orange barrier and slamming into her with bone-crushing force. This was replaced almost instantly by an image of herself, standing upright in the large circular space once more, except now her hands were outstretched, and an orb of pulsating gold light hovered in between them. Suddenly, the orb exploded, and with it, the orange barrier around her, and then she was sprinting down a hallway constructed of pure white marble, ornate wooden doors lining both walls. When she reached the blank stretch of marble wall between the fourteenth and fifteenth doors on her right, she hurtled to a chaotic stop, and the faces of Mars and Mercury, their faces blank and hair flying out behind them appeared before her, and there was not a doubt in her mind that shattering the orb would lead her towards them.

But then, quite abruptly, the faces of her friends changed; Mars became a girl with large, startling blue eyes and incredibly long blonde hair pulled into pigtails that shone spectacularly in the moonlight, a golden tiara upon her head, almost identical to the one she wore, except a bright crescent moon replaced the gemstone that should have been in its place. Mercury, meanwhile, became a girl with narrowed green eyes and a rather angry expression upon her face, her thick brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She, too, wore a tiara, set with a dark jade gemstone.

The faces were only there for a split second, and yet in that second, Venus was absolutely sure she had seen the pair of people before. But before she could get a good look at them, they vanished, leaving in their place an inexplicable mass of determination, and Venus converted that into the energy she needed to open her eyes.

With a wild gasp of effort, she accomplished the feat, feeling as though the effort of doing so might have killed her. Breathing deeply, Venus glared about herself, hatred tearing through her as she took in the barrier around her, its innocent hum mocking her. Biting back a growl, she peeled herself off the uncomfortably warm floor and stood up, her hands clenched into fists. She forced herself to control her anger as she stared about herself, knowing that lapses in concentration were sometimes deadly. Closing her eyes, she conjured up the flashing image that had been of herself holding up an orb of golden light.

Acting instinctively, Venus narrowed her closed eyes and raised her hands to chest level, palms facing each other, and, mustering all her powers of concentration, focused on conjuring the same smoky shield that she had used to combat the orbs that had ravaged Tokyo, except this time she concentrated solely on her hands.

She knew it had worked almost instantly, because even without the suddenly loss of energy, a blinding gold light suddenly burst into existence, painfully bright even from beneath her closed eyelids. She opened her eyes, and even though she had been expecting to see it there, a gasp of surprise still escaped her lips; there it was, perfectly pristine, turning slowly like a miniature, pulsating in exact time to her heart.

But as the seconds ticked by, panic began to course through her; nothing was happening. _Damn it, what now? _she demanded of herself, forcing herself not to lose her concentration. _Was that vision just a dream? An escalation of my madness?_

_Of course not! _she retorted to herself, thinking briefly of how stupid it was to be arguing with a voice in your own head. _Was that vision you had of the coming disaster just a dream? Or the one that told you to run into the orb with Mars? Use your head!_

And so she did; taking a deep, steadying breath, Venus closed her eyes and let her eyes slip closed once more. Her shield was useless if she didn't concentrate on what she was blocking, and so, she reasoned, was this orb of light, unless she focused on what she wanted it to do.

_I want to get out of here, _she thought, feeding every last ion of her concentration into the task at hand. _I want to shatter this prison into a million pieces and go free Mars and Mercury. And then, when that's done, I'm going to get back at this stupid Lady Genesis for doing messing with the power of love!_

No sooner had she thought the last word than her feet left the ground; Venus fought violently against her own surprise as this happened, and forced herself to open her eyes slowly. She was rising into the air, five feet and counting, while the orb of light before her pulsed faster and faster – as did her heart – causing thin tongues of light to erupt out of it, encircling her in a kind of blinding cage. As she drifted to a stop some fifteen feet in the air, the bars of light thickened, becoming a large, translucent sphere around her.

The sphere hung there for a moment, and once again, Venus sank into panic, but then, almost as though it were a separate entity, it shot forwards and melted straight through her, surging into her chest, filling her with its power. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips as the sheer power of the alien energy threatened to topple her out of the air, and she knew that even a small amount of the energy would have been sufficient enough to produce a lethal Meteor Strike.

But to her horror, the energy just kept on coming; it poured into her, like a balloon being filled with an endless supply of water, and Venus knew that eventually she wouldn't be able to take any more. What would ensue when that happened...well, she didn't really want to think about that, but what she did know was that she had to get rid of the energy.

_Though only at the last second, _she added, a plan forming itself readily in her mind. _When I release it, the explosions gonna be big, and I want it as big as possible._

The moment, she knew, was seconds away; blood was rushing noisily through her head, she felt like some sort of irresistible force was pressing in on her from every side, an elastic band tightening around a balloon that was going to burst. Instinctively, Venus drew her limbs tight into her chest, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts, unable to function normally, there was too much energy-

"ARGH!" she screamed, and with that, her limbs snapped back into position, feeling as though they were dragging through concrete to get there, an act that her sphere mirrored quite literally; with a supernova-class explosion of sound, the orb expanded ten feet, creating deafening winds and causing a substantial portion of her borrowed energy to rush out of her body in a huff of exertion. The sphere began to grow at a painstakingly slow rate, one a snail could rival without much difficulty, and Venus locked her arms and legs in place, gritting her teeth together and throwing her head up to the sky. The physical strain of keeping her sphere in existence was enough to make a herd of elephants sweat, let alone a sixteen-year old girl, but she forced herself to imagine that the strain of keeping it there was caused by the titanic amounts of pressure produced in roiling waves by Lady Genesis' orbs.

_Hang in there! _she told herself, her long blonde hair billowing out around her. _Come on, it can't be that much longer-_

"ARGH!" she screamed, as suddenly, a maelstrom of resistance met her orb, savaging it like a swarm of vultures on a carcass. Her limbs trembled from strain and exhaustion, and the last of her borrowed energy had departed her, so that her expanding sphere was now drawing vast amounts of energy from her own body.

"I...c-can't do th-this!" she spluttered, almost crying from exhaustion as she fought against the impossible force that was the resistance. Barely four feet remained between the edge of her sphere and the orange barrier, but it may has well have been a thousand light years, because one more second of this impossible strain was going to kill her, she couldn't take it-

_THINK OF MERCURY AND MARS! _screamed a voice in her head, desperate to drive her onwards. _THEY'RE TRAPPED, WAITING FOR YOU TO RESCUE THEM! YOU CAN'T RESCUE THEM IF YOU'RE TRAPPED IN HERE!_

_They'll...find...a way out, _she thought back, sucking in short gasps of air as her arms wobbled like rubber. _They're just...as strong as...me._

_WHAT ABOUT THOSE OTHER TWO GIRLS? _demanded the voice, and the faces of the blonde girl and the angry brown haired one appeared in her mind, bringing with them echoes of determination. _YOU'LL NEVER FIND OUT WHO THEY ARE IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF HERE!_

This was the spark that ignited the explosion that was Venus' resolve; she promptly forgot her exhaustion, and with a pained cry she doubled the amounts of energy she was feeding to her sphere, iron-clad determination refusing to be swayed by the insurmountable force pushing against her-

And then she had done it; her sphere pressed up against the violently orange barrier, which shuddered and swayed as it was faced with the unbeatable power that was Venus, and she felt as though the sphere was one of her muscles that she was flexing to bursting point, like she was trying to lift a twenty-tonne weight over her head, something she knew she was capable of, and yet was infuriatingly unable to do so at the moment-

The resulting explosion caused her eardrums to pop, something like an armada of bombs exploding at once. The sound of shattering glass was the only thing in the world, and the orange barrier was reduced to countless, infinitesimal shards that rocketed through space like miniature daggers, sparkling with deceptive innocence.

But _was _it space they were flying through? The world around her seemed to be flickering between two different realities, one that was the endless, hopeless expanse of space and the other, something she could only describe as stone. But with each flicker between realities, the outer space was growing smaller and smaller, patches of it disappearing altogether, to be replaced by squares of stone, until space disappeared completely, depositing Venus in a cold, empty grey cell.

At the moment, however, she was too exhausted to care; she let her arms fall limply to her side and slumped forwards, floating gently out of the air while her sphere faded into non-existence. Gasping and shuddering, she collapsed upon the ground, her whole form heaving with each breath, feeling as though at any second she was about to pass out.

"This...had better...be...worth it," Venus choked out, retching slightly as she clawed her way upright, feeling as though her head were trapped inside a blender. With a moan of pain, she staggered to her feet, clawed hands clutching either side of her pounding head. She leaned weakly against the blissfully cool wall behind her, waiting for her energy to return while listening to the frantic pounding of her heart.

Slowly, very slowly, she regained enough strength to raise her head, and promptly scoured her surroundings. Compared to her old cell, this one seemed rather unimpressive, though, she reasoned, if the other cell had merely been a frightening illusion, there would be no reason to reinforce the real one.

_And there's no door, _she noted, scanning the blank stone walls, a savage smile spreading across her face. _Oh well. I guess that means I'm just going to have to make my own._

She cast her gaze about her cell, carelessly selecting one section of the uniform grey walls, unimpressed at this non-challenge, for after the terror that was the previous illusion, this new container looked quite lame.

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!" _she cried, pointing her index finger at the blank segment of wall. With a laseresque explosion of noise, a streaking line of pure gold light shot out of her fingertip and blasted a large gap in the weak stone wall, sending chunks of rock and maelstroms of dust flying in every direction. Without pausing to wait for the wreckage to clear, Venus threw her arms over her head to protect herself from airborne rubble and darted out into the hallway she knew lay beyond. Coughing slightly, she waved a gloved hand about herself to clear the thick cloud of white dust lingering about her like a disease, and let out a choked gasp of horror; standing before her, looking paralysed with absolute fear, was Equinox, his long, curly black hair thick with dust and tiny stone fragments, grey face leeched of what little colour it had.

"_You!" _she gasped, taking a startled step backwards, but she recovered almost instantly; before the alien had time to do more than raise one hand threateningly, she had drawn one fist over her shoulder and lashed out in a hard punch. Her fist connected forcible with his nose, and she felt the bone break satisfyingly beneath her curled fingers, causing Equinox to bellow in pain and fall surprisedly backwards, one hand clamped over her nose.

Wasting no time on snappy dialogue, Venus leap-frogged the man and, continuing as if there had been no interruption, sprinted forwards, her feet barey touching the ground for the speed she was flying at, marble walls reduced to little more than white streaks at her sides, though she was careful to count the doors that whizzed by on her left.

_Five...six..._

"STOP HER!" Roared Equinox, his voice muffled slightly by his hand. Venus forced herself to keep her gaze fixed upon the indistinct shadows that swam in front of her, her breath coming in short, laboured gasps, arms pumping furiously at the sides, her feet barely touching the ground for the speed she was sprinting at. Behind her, however, ferocious snarls ripped themselves from the mouths of those Equinox had summoned forth to stop her, and the sounds of thundering footsteps from both behind and in front of her assaulted her ears, reminding her of just how impossible escape had become.

Jets of violently bright light sprinted past her, so numerous that the dimly light marble hallway was obscured by a blitz of colour, and it was fortunate for her that whoever Equinox had summoned had terrible aim. Her heart pounding desperately in her ears, Venus sprinted onwards, her dark blue eyes fixed on the wall on her right, counting the streaks of brown that flew past.

_Ten...eleven-_

"ARGH!" she screamed, as something she could only describe as a white-hot whip slammed into the small of her back, tendrils of pain savaging her body, blasting her forwards through the air. Forcing herself to keep her wits about her, Venus tried her best to shut out the agony and turned a somersault before landing hard on the plush golden carpet that stretched endlessly out before her. She dug the fingers of one gloved hand into the floor to slow her progress, and eventually skidded to a halt right outside the space between the fourteenth and fifteenth doors, a vein pulsing agitatedly in her temple.

"Get to the back of the cell!" she warned, cupping her hands around her mouth and praying that Mars and Mercury could hear her. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" she added in a thunderous shout, pointing an index finger at the wall, and with a laseresque burst of noise, a streak of blinding golden light erupted out of her fingertip and slammed into the wall, causing it to explode into a hundred pieces of flying rubble, most of which were small and next to harmless, though several were about the size of her torso and clipped her arms and legs, causing pain to throb in the places they touched.

She had the confused impression of flying dust and white, red and blue before two pairs of arms had thrown themselves around her, crushing the air from her lungs, coupled with delighted squeals.

"Sailor Venus!" cried Mercury, and she could feel joyous tears flowing from her friend's eyes.

"'Bout time you showed up!' shouted Mars, pounding her excitedly on the back. A relieved smile spread across Venus' face as she hugged her fellow Scouts back, revelling in the joyousness of their reunion, temporarily forgetting their predicament.

_Lady Genesis, I almost feel sorry for you._

Suddenly, their isolated bubble of happiness was shattered by Mars' horrified gasp of surprise. Venus and Mercury abruptly broke away from her, pressing their backs together as they glared about for the source of the friend's discomfort, which was not hard to find. Surrounding them from every side were intimidating, muscle bound figures, humanoid, yet alien, similar to Equinox and Solstice. Taunting leers were hitched upon their faces, and most carried lethal swords or maces in their hands, glowing with onyx energy, though she spotted several who actually had weaponry for hands. The circle was too tight, to flawless for them to attempt to cut their way through it. The very walls seemed to be holding their breath as a deafening silence rang throughout the hallway, too huge to be contained, pressing uncomfortably hard upon Venus' eardrums, the tension so thick that you could have cut it with a blade.

There was no way out.

"MARS FLAME _SNIPER!" _screamed Mars, raising her hands out in front of her just in time to catch a massive, loaded flaming bow that appeared out of nowhere. She directed the arrow, not at the mass of enemies assembled before them, but at the cold marble floor beneath them. With a deafening twang, she released the taught string, and in a burst of noise and flash of fire, the ground exploded into a million fragments that were blasted every which way, slamming into some of their frightening opponents with deadly force. The three Sailor Scouts plummeted downwards, tumbling end over end in a confused heap of limbs, chunks of rock and dust, Venus and Mercury screaming in terror, Mars managing to descend with a little more composure. They collided with the ground with crushing force, and a gasp of pain escaped Venus' lips as her head hit the ground, little spots of light bursting into existence before her eyes. Loud thuds sounded from all around her, the sounds of chunks of marble colliding with the ground, and she could hear Mars and Mercury coughing through the thick brown dust that hung around them like a stench.

Moaning quietly, Venus forced herself to her feet, rubbing the back of her head in an attempt to soothe the blinding pain that had erupted there, pulling her friends to their feet as she did so. Waving a hand impatiently through the air, Venus squinted through the dust in order to view their surroundings, which had become an absolutely cavernous room, also constructed of pristinely white marble, large jewels encrusted in the once-spotless floor. At least two dozen massive crystal chandeliers hung from the arching ceiling, quivering slightly from the force of Mars' arrow. The room, she supposed, would have been quite beautiful if not for the wreckage the three of them had created, but all thoughts of the room's beauty were banished as her eyes came to a rest upon one of the most marvellous sights she had ever seen.

They were standing before her, twenty feet tall and half that in width, glistening a pristine gold, open a crack, allowing the blinding silver light that emanated out from the moon. Doors. Their ticket out of this living hell.

"The door!" cried Mercury, quite unnecessarily, jabbing a white gloved finger at the doors. As, the Soldiers sprinted forwards, their gaze fixed upon that which they had been so avidly seeking-

But suddenly, a noise like a laser beam being fired, and then Equinox was standing before them, a look of absolute fury upon his face, his nose returned to normal, all blood wiped clean from his face.

"Gah!" cried Venus, skidding to a halt and clenching her fists, Mars and Mercury shadows at her side. "You again."

"Yes," snarled the alien, his eyes glowing with hate as he glared at Venus. "Me again." And then, faster than any of the Scouts could react, he raised one hand and shot a beam of concentrated, jet black lightning at them, its cackling louder than a hundred thunderstorms raging at once. Venus only had time to cross her arms in front of her face before the beam hit them, but instead of slamming into her, it widened and morphed into a sphere of translucent onyx energy that encircled the three of them, barely wide enough for them to sit upright, let alone stand. With bewildered screams, Venus, Mars and Mercury were rammed together, Mercury's torso was lying on her legs, feeling like a thousand pounds in the cramped space, and Mars' legs were kicking her over and over again in the face.

"Argh!" screamed Venus, twisting out from under Mars and somehow finding herself suspended in a sort of contorted hand stand, her face pressed against the side of their sphere.

"Get your butt outta my face!" yelled Mercury.

"Get your face outta my butt!" Mars shouted back, writhing against the two of them.

All was a mass of twisting bodies and writhing limbs, so it came as a great surprise to Venus when she glanced outside their prison and realized they had left the entrance hall in favour of a semi-dark room, cavernous and seemingly without a ceiling, much like the one she and Mars had arrived in upon coming here. "Guys!" she yelled, her voice slightly muffled from her place against the orb's surface. "Guys, look!"

Mercury and Mars stopped arguing about who was on top of who at her words, but before any of them could speak, there was a faint _pop! _and the bubble disappeared. Venus landed at the bottom of the confused heap of Sailor Soldiers, her whole body aching with Mars' and Mercury's weight, and the three of them quickly disentangled themselves and clambered upright, their backs pressed against each other as they stared around for Equinox.

Venus saw that he was kneeling in front of her, facing an empty, ornate golden throne, which seemed to have a spotlight trained upon it, for it alone was visible in this shadowy new room. It was engraved with hundreds of crescent moons and emitted a faint, sparkling glow, but there was an unnatural black mist floating around it, one that leeched it of all its beauty.

"My lady," he murmured at the chair, and Mars and Mercury whirled around at his words. "I have brought you the escaped prisoners."

For one wild moment, Venus thought the chair responded, but then realized that someone was obviously standing in the shadows behind it. "I can see that," said a cold, female voice. "And I thank you for depriving me of that unenjoyable task. "

There was a pause, in which the three of them exchanged confused looks, then the invisible person continued her speech. "But I seem to remember warning you of what would happen if you let the girl escape, Equinox. So I hope this comes as no shock to you."

A bolt of violet lightning lashed out from behind the throne, striking Equinox squarely in the chest. With an agonized scream much like the one Venus had uttered when she had been thrown back into the barrier, the man's body rose several feet into the air, stiff as a board and yet jerking wildly as the lightning savaged his body, thrashing his limbs and forcing Venus, Mars and Mercury to jump back to avoid being hit by them.

He screamed and screamed, and suddenly, with a noise like a canon blast being fired, he exploded into a million glittering particles like the ones Solstice had been reduced to.

In mute horror, Venus stared at the spot Equinox had vanished from, hoping against hope that the woman she suspected was behind the golden throne was not.

"Sailor Soldiers," the cold voice drawled, sounding amused. From out of the shadows stepped a bone white woman, taller than any of them and sheathed in a flowing red dress that may very well have been fashioned from her rippling ruby hair. Her eyes were darkest brown and tunnel-like, looking cold as ice as she stared at the three of them, a cruel smile playing upon her painted crimson lips. Venus had seen this woman in her prophecy, and in the flesh she cast off a chilling aura that consumed the entire room.

_Lady Genesis, _Venus broadcast to Mars and Mercury, whose arms were shaking slightly on either side of her.

If the woman heard Venus' assumption, she gave no sign. She tilted her head slightly and swept one hand through the air pointing at the place where Equinox had vanished.

"Your fates," she informed them, with a trace of a cold laugh. "But shortened."

Genesis – for indeed it was she – moved with exaggerated slowness and sank into her throne, tilting her head to the side as she surveyed them again. "Isn't it fitting," she continued, her icy eyes coming to rest on Venus, who hid her fear behind a mask of disdain. "That you die at the site where you humiliated me, Moon Princess?"

Venus didn't know what she was talking about, unless Genesis was some sort of raving lunatic, in which case it didn't matter. Either way, she had no intention of snivelling and begging for mercy from her.

"Well, it would be," she lied easily, staring defiantly into Genesis' large brown eyes. "If only you could succeed in killing me."

Mercury moaned, faint with terror at Venus' bravado, Genesis' pupils contracted, and her hands clenched the armrests of her throne, but in less than a second she released them, her anger vanishing as quickly as it had come. "Make no mistake, Moon Princess, I _will _succeed," she hissed, so venomous Venus had to use every nerve in her body to keep herself from backing away. "You will die in the Moon Kingdom, like your mother did so long ago."

_She's crazy, _Mars broadcast to her, and Venus couldn't help but agree. Her mother was alive on Earth, oblivious to her daughter's true identity.

"Is that really what you think?" Mars called out, speaking for the first time. "That you'll be able to squash us like bugs, like you tried to do before? Do you really think our powers haven't grown over the years?"

"SILENCE!" bawled Genesis, leaping to her feet, and the three of them took automatic steps backwards when they saw the look of pure hatred upon the Dark Queen's face. Breathing rapidly, Genesis took a step forwards, her voice shaking with barely contained rage.

"How dare you speak to me like that?" she spat, her brown eyes glinting maliciously. "You, a common warrior who runs around with a doomed princess for protection! I am a thousand times greater than you will ever be!"

She hurled these words at Mars as though they would cause her unendurable pain, but Mars, Venus gathered from the Soldier of Fire's thoughts, was merely unnerved at Genesis' anger, and slightly bemused.

Mercury was analyzing Genesis' ranting as some sort of need to prove something to herself, something Venus couldn't listen to right now. Shutting Mercury and her science out, Venus addressed Genesis, considering under her facade of bravado.

"So why don't you kill us?" she asked, a taunting smile playing about her lips. "If we're so weak and useless, why don't you get your revenge?"

Genesis, who had remastered herself, observed Venus with a kind of amused superiority. "Oh, I will," she assured her triumphantly. "But first, you will give me the Galactical Mirror. I'm rather confused as to why you brought these fools -" she indicated Mars and Mercury. "-with you instead of the other princesses. Even one as unobservant as you must realize how tedious a task it would be for me to comb your silly planet for the other eight princesses. With the Mirror, I could identify them so much quicker."

Unlike before, Venus had a shrewd suspicion as to what Genesis was talking about; her mind was seized with an image that had presented itself before her an eternity ago, back on Earth, an image of a small golden mirror with nine shadowy faces visible inside it.

Genesis smiled slightly, staring amusedly at Venus, and a chill ran up her spine as Venus realized that the Dark Queen had read her thoughts. "Ah," she murmured, her voice a deceptively harmless sigh. "I see you know what I'm talking about. The longer you delay," she added cruelly. "the more drawn out you death will be."

Venus laughed openly, though it was more an outburst of tension and anxiety than mirth. "I hope you have a lot of time on your hands, then, because I'm not giving it to you!" she spoke the truth, however, for she could no sooner have handed over this Galactical Mirror than identify the true Moon Princess – if there was one.

Genesis seemed to think Venus was lying, for she let out a note of steely laughter. "Let's see if you're so quick to refuse after I kill your friends!" she cried, and with a sharp slash of her hand, she sent a beam of cackling lavender energy rocketing towards them, splitting itself into three, each bolt targeting one of the Sailor Soldiers. Mars rolled out of harm's way, while Mercury sashayed to the right and Venus leapt high into the air. As she flew, she raised one palm and, directing it at Genesis, screamed, "VENUS METEOR STRIKE!"

"MARS FLAME _SNIPER!" _shouted Mars, unleashing a massive flaming arrow upon the Dark Queen, and with a tremendous roar it sprinted through the air alongside Venus' fleet of massive, glowing golden meteors, and these combined attacks would, at the very least, gravely injure the Dark Queen-

But when their attacks were less than a foot in front of the slightly smiling Genesis, a half-sphere of starry violet energy appeared protectively around her, and as their attacks slammed into it, they exploded into clouds of gold and ruby dust respectively.

"But-" Mercury gasped, sounding miffed.

"That's impossible!" Venus and Mars protested, staring at the pristine Lady Genesis in outraged disbelief.

"Pathetic!" crowed the Dark Queen, one arm folded across her chest, while she supported her chin on the back of her hand. "Is that really the best you can do?"

Genesis had to eat her words, however, as Mercury shouted, "SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" and slashed her gloved hands through the air, sending a positive hurricane of glowing cyan blue water rocketing towards the Queen, hitting her squarely in the face. With a scream of mingling fury and pain, Genesis toppled backwards, a current of ice running over her form; clearly, she was too strong to be frozen by the Soldier of Water's attack.

As Genesis whirled back around and Venus caught sight of the look of insane rage that had leeched her face of all its beauty, she knew that something very bad was about to befall them. _Bad _was a bit of an understatement; with a scream of absolute fury, the Dark Queen flung her arms away from her body and sent a wave of translucent energy exploding off of her, a wave that crossed the distance between her and the Scouts in less than a second, and the moment it passed through her, intolerable agony ripped through her, holding Venus prisoner in its flaming, unbreakable grip. Every sense deserted her as absolute, intolerable pain ripped through her, and she was screaming louder than ever before, at the pain that put that which she had endured in her illusionary prison to shame. Her every nerve was on fire, her blood had turned to acid, she felt like she was being burned alive and frozen simultaneously, that she was being ripped limb from limb and reassembled in the most brutal way possible, only for the cycle to repeat itself. If she could have writhed, she would have, but she was frozen in place, suspended several feet off the ground, prisoner to torture-

And then it ended. Venus cut off in mid-scream with a choked gasp and collapsed onto the ground in a limp, shuddering heap, while Mars and Mercury fell onto the floor with dull thuds on either side of her. Gasping and spluttering, Venus forced her violently shaking form onto her hands and knees, burning agony still ripping through her, faint echoes of what she had just been through. Tears of pain swam before her eyes, her own screams were still ringing in her ears, and someone was laughing, a high, blood-curdling sound that had no trace of warmth or light in it. Shuddering at the sound of it, Venus summoned every last bit of her depleted strength reserves to raise her head, only to see Lady Genesis striding forwards, her head thrown back as she cackled demonically.

"You see, Moon Princess?" she guffawed, stopping less than a foot in front of her, tilting her head to the side as though surveying an interesting painting. "Do you see why you cannot beat me? While your powers have weakened over time, mine have only strengthened!" A steely, malicious glint flashed through her eyes, and then, so quickly that the air hissed, Genesis had seized her by the hair and yanked her off the ground, suspending her several feet off the floor. Venus gave a strangled scream of pain as she felt like her hair was being pulled out of her skull by the roots, and, cringing, drew her knees up to her chest, glaring up at Genesis with one eye shut, hating every bit of her.

"Did you like that?" whispered the Dark Queen, her painted crimson lips inches from Venus' ear. "I've got plenty more tricks up my sleeve, in case your still thinking of denying me of the Galactical Mirror."

"I have a trick for you," snarled Venus, and she raised one gloved hand to place her index finger on the cluster of black crescent moons upon her enemy's ivory forehead, shouting, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!"_

The lack of distance between them caused her attack to bordering on fatal; with a supernova-class explosion of noise, Lady Genesis was blasted away from Venus, her scream echoing off the cavernous walls as she flew over her ornate golden throne and out of sight. Venus turned a backwards somersault before landing unsteadily in a crouch beside Sailor Mercury, who had forced herself onto her hands and knees and was staring appreciatively at the place where Genesis had flown out of sight.

"Nice one, Venus!" she gasped, her voice weak from the torture she had endured. Venus did not respond, for she knew that even a second's lapse in concentration could prove to be a fatal mistake. This proved to be a wise move, for no sooner had Mercury spoken than their hated enemy staggered into view, clutching her left arm, her face demented with pain and outrage, long red hair falling into her twisted face, making her look more demonically flame-like than ever.

Venus, Mercury and Mars all leapt to their feet, the three of them worse for the wear but ready to battle to the death, tensed in various poses of offense and defence. Genesis stumbled to a halt beside her ornate golden throne, breathing as heavily as though she had just run a race, and then, with an almost audible click, her soulless brown eyes locked onto Venus' narrowed blue ones.

To Mars and Mercury, this would have been a bit anticlimactic, but to Venus, it was the worst thing possible; the moment Genesis' eyes met her own, she felt as though an invisible sword had been plunged through her chest, not fatally, but causing the air to rush out of her lungs in a huff and forcing her to her knees.

Now she felt as if something was_ inside_ of her – not the invisible sword, but something sentient, cold and soulless, moving throughout her body without any right to be there, leaving an agonizing, burning pain in the places it passed through.

_Genesis, _Venus realized, and no sooner had she thought the name then a terrible pain shot through her, a hundred times more painful than an electric shock. Her scream died in her throat, her breath was solidifying in her chest, and she felt a horrible sense of helplessness claim her, the power to control her body deserting her, while her mind, her sense of self, was infected by a new presence, one much larger, more powerful and infinitely more malicious than she, twisting her point of view like some sort of poisonous, alien parasite. Her subconsciousness, her iron core, fought back, struggling violently with this new presence in a doomed battle that she refused to retreat in.

_Look away! _Screamed a voice in her head, a voice that the parasite lashed out at, making to smother it. _Don't look into her eyes!_

Venus tried; she really did, but Genesis would not let her go, her soulless brown eyes boring into her dark blue ones, refusing to let her wrench her gaze away.

It was like she was drowning inside herself.

Genesis spoke to her from inside her head this time, her voice twenty times louder than before, and a thousand times more irrefusable, ringing with power and conviction.

_You are mine! _She crowed, her voice deafening from the strength of her authority. _Your will belongs to me!_

Of course, Venus murmured, powerless to disagree, and in a disembodied sort of way, she felt herself kneeling on the ground, dragging down shuddering, rasping breaths, her knuckles digging into the smooth marble floor, drawing blood.

_Good, _crooned Genesis. _Now, Moon Princess, eliminate your friends!_

Venus nodded, and abruptly became aware of someone shaking her roughly by the shoulders.

"VENUS!" Mercury was shouting, her panicked face inches from her bewildered, sweating one. "VENUS, ANSWER ME!"

For a moment, Venus stared at her in confusion, her true self reeling at what Genesis was commanding her to do, disgusted at the possibility of having to hurt the innocent, loyal friend before her, but then the parasite had overrun her, forcing her into submission. Venus got sharply to her feet, knocking Mercury backwards. Mars, who had been bending over her, her expression alarmed at her unresponsiveness, instantly looked shocked, then wary.

"Venus -?" she asked suspiciously, taking a hesitant step forwards and making to touch her arm.

"Get away!" Venus snarled in a harsh voice most unlike her own, with a warped, twisted counterpart like the voice of Hades, slapping Mars' outstretched hand away.

Mars staggered back, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Mercury..." she said in a warning voice, turning her face in the direction of the Soldier of Water without taking her narrowed eyes off Venus. Mercury, who had been looking concernedly at her, shook her head in disbelief, her eyes huge.

"Say goodbye, Sailor Soldiers!" Venus cackled in her horrible, harsh voice. Slowly, as though a cord was attached to her arm, she pointed her index finger at Mars, whose eyes widened in utmost horror, staggering back as she realized what was about to happen.

"VENUS, DON'T DO IT!" Mercury screamed suddenly, leaping to her feet and planting herself in front of Mars, throwing her arms out from her chest and shielding the Soldier of Fire from view, glaring into Venus' shadowed eyes in a mixture of defiance and fear.

"We're supposed to be your _friends!" _Mars shouted angrily, trying to push Mercury out of her way, her face as white as bone.

Deep inside herself, Venus was reeling, like a caged animal being forced to watch a brutal murder, knowing what Genesis was intending to do and, to increase the despicable horror of it, she was planning to do it through _her, _using her own attack, an attack that she had been blessed with in the hopes that it would be used to defeat evil, evil whose essence was controlling her at that moment-

For a brief moment, she grappled with Genesis in a violent internal struggle, her fingers rigid claws that dug into the sides of her head, pulling out her hair as she bared her teeth, shaking her head from side to side in a vain attempt to dislodge the monster residing inside of her. But Genesis won, forcing her back into submission with an angry hiss of, "Too late, Moon Princess!"

Venus' arm rose into the air once more, and with a heartless chuckle she screeched, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _CRASH!"_

Her beam of light, usually a pure, bright gold, was surrounded by a twirling ribbon of jagged black energy, lacing it with Genesis' power. Mercury let out a positive shriek of utmost agony as the beam, made a hundred times more lethal by Genesis' deadly power, tore through her chest, going through her as easily as an arrow piercing open air and smashing into Mars, who screamed just as loudly. The Scouts were blasted off their feet and slammed forcibly into the dark wall across from her with ominous booms, impacting within seconds of each other, as limp as dolls.

_NO! _Venus screamed, watching through the bars of her mental cage as her friends slid down the wall into crumpled heaps. _What have I done?_

An agonized cry was wrenched from her lips and she fell to her knees, clutching at the sides of her head, desperately trying to throw off the oppressive blackness that was Genesis' consciousness, beating her fists upon the ground, tears streaking down her face as she clenched her eyes shut, trying to create a barrier between herself and the agony of what she had done, what Genesis had made her do.

With a Herculean effort, she forced herself to raise her shaking head to stare at the Dark Queen with agonized eyes, eyes she looked through through the bars of her mental cage. _You...you're a monster! _She thought venomously, choking down air and struggling to force the oppressive blackness that was Genesis' consciousness off of her.

The Queen, who had been standing stock still by her throne the entire time, laughed coldly and called, "Fight all you want, Moon Princess! You cannot defeat me!"

_SHUT UP! _Venus screamed mentally, glaring at Genesis with agonized eyes, trapped in a suffocating mass of pain.

Genesis cocked her head, smiling slightly. "Ah..." she murmured, crossing the distance between them to kneel in front of her. "I seem to have touched a nerve." She paused for a moment, icy fury emanating from her slim form in waves, then she continued in a piercing whisper, "Do you hate me, Moon Princess? Do you want to make me hurt, make me _suffer _for what you've done? Will attacking me really ease the pain of attacking your friends?"

_Don't – lie, _Venus thought maliciously, her breath coming in shallow bursts as she fought to keep the Dark Queen's oppressive consciousness temporarily at bay. _It was you! You all along, to cowardly to strike when Mars and Mercury didn't have their backs turned!_

_But it _was _you, Moon Princess, _Genesis thought at her in amusement, and the scene of herself blasting Mars and Mercury off their feet with her Crescent Beam, except from Genesis' vantage point, flashed through her mind. _You attacked your friends all by yourself!_

"I didn't!" Venus protested, panting with the effort of using her lips, rather than thoughts, to speak. "I-it...was you!"

_Is that what you think? _Genesis asked her, a cruel smile playing about her painted lips as she shook her head slowly from left to right, eyes never leaving Venus'. _Will lying to yourself change what you've-_

"IT'S THE TRUTH!" Venus snarled, and with an impossible effort, she staggered upright, bringing her knee up forcibly and slamming it into Genesis' face.

The Queen fell back, looking frightened and confused as she wiped blood off her visage with the back of a bone white hand, while Venus stood over her, feeling sick and shaking violently, temporarily in control of herself . But then Genesis was on her feet, and with a shriek of unrestrained rage, she slashed one hand through the air, causing a violently purple flame to erupt out of nowhere and rocket towards her with a noise like a whip crack. It slammed into Venus with crushing force, an act that sent her flying backwards into a cold, unyielding wall, causing an explosion of pain to burst into existence in the back of her head. Little stars erupted before her eyes and she gave a gasp of pain, the world reduced to naught but a swirling mass of white and black, but before she could crumple to the floor, a hand, cold and crushingly powerful, had pinned her upright by the throat, while someone snarled inhumanely from in front of her.

"Never," Genesis hissed, breathing as heavily as though she had just sprinted a mile. "disrespect me, Moon Princess. I will ensure that it was the last mistake you ever made."

And then, her grip on her throat had turned crushing, trying to squeeze the life from her throat. Venus choked and spluttered, her feet kicking wildly beneath her, shaking gloved fingers trying to pry Genesis' steely hand away from her, tilting her head up to the ceiling and gasping for breath. Someone was cackling insanely from close by, but her brain did not have the air to identify the culprit; a raw, senseless burning had claimed her lungs, which were screaming for air, and patches of black were obscuring her vision, making it impossible to see...

_Face it, _whispered a voice in her head, mournful and slow, weighed down by helplessness. _You're finished. Genesis is a lunatic, she's not gonna let go, not until you're dead. There's no one coming to help you this time, Venus, not unless the actual Moon Princess shows up, ha-ha._

But as her struggles became weaker and weaker, her body positively screaming for air, a thought came to her, a thought that caused a flame of happiness to erupt inside her endless black abyss. _And I'll see Ami and Rei again._

And suddenly, what little vision she had tunnelled and lurched, and instead of displaying Genesis' outraged face, she saw Mars and Mercury, both struggling to raise their heads off the ground, their faces covered in soot and sweat, eyes gaunt against their bone white faces. Then, she heard their voices, alarmingly weak, echoing throughout her head.

_Fight-her...Venus, _Mars told her. _She's not stronger than you!_

_Push...Venus! _Mercury whispered, tears shining in her bright blue eyes, glazing them over. _You know the truth. Use it to push her away!_

And with these words, Venus felt the last of Mars and Mercury's energy fill her, fiery, flaming passion and strength and cool logic, giving her the power she so desperately craved to banish Genesis' poisonous consciousness from her own.

Lady Genesis' hand faltered against her throat as she sensed her hold on Venus was weakening. This suspicion was increased by tenfold when a ruby red and bright sapphire glow appeared around the Sailor Soldier's body, a film of power passing over her dark blue eyes.

_What are you doing? _Spat Genesis, trying to force her back into darkness. _Stop, Moon Princess! You are making matters worse for yourself!_

Venus felt an onslaught of rage-powered energy assault her consciousness, but she was protected by it now, shielded by Mars and Mercury's energy. A strained smile spread across her face as she looked into Genesis' eyes, channelling all her hate through them. _You made me hurt the two people I care about most, _she retorted, easily parrying the Dark Queen's attacks. _Now we finish it!_

And at long last, she threw off Genesis' consciousness entirely, making her feel as though she was emerging from a deep pool of water. Gasping for breath and revelling at her return of control to her body, Venus met Genesis' horrified stare, then reached out and pressed both hands to her beautiful face, screaming, "VENUS METEOR STRIKE!"

With a noise like a hundred bombs exploding, golden energy rushed out of her hands and wrecked havoc through Genesis' body, and with an ear-splitting scream of indescribable agony, the Dark Queen was thrown back from the Soldier of Love, writhing and twisting as she rocketed across the room, colliding with the marble wall several yards away from where Mars and Mercury were slumped.

Panting, exhausted but bursting with triumph, a superior smile lit Venus' face as she watched her enemy crumple to the ground. She wasted no time in gloating, for she knew that time was of the essence if she wanted to save her fellow Soldiers, as long as they weren't already too far gone to be saved. She sprinted across the room, her footsteps echoing off the walls, praying to the gods that Mars and Mercury's last acts had not been to free her from Genesis' control. "Mercury!" she gasped, skidding to a halt before her friends. "Mars! Wake up!"

When they did not move, panic clawed up Venus' throat, threatening to plunge her into blackness. Refusing to fall to pieces, Venus shut her eyes and sank to her knees, taking one of her friends' hands in both her own and willing them to life, feeding them her energy and concentrating on the moment that they would leave this so-called Moon Kingdom.

"Sailor Mars," she whispered, a single tear rolling down her teeth and falling onto her lap. "Sailor Mercury, don't die on me! I can't go on without you guys!"

The last of the red and blue smoke travelled down her hands and melted into her friends' limp gloved hands, and suddenly, their hands clenched in hers, causing Venus' eyes to fly open. Mars and Mercury were kneeling beside her, their eyes alight with wonder as they gazed bewilderedly up at her tear-streaked face.

"Oh thank the gods!" Venus spluttered, throwing her arms around them. "I thought -"

"Look!" Mercury cried suddenly, and Venus looked over her shoulder, her heart racing in her chest, hammering itself against her ribs as though determined to burst out of them.

Genesis was clawing herself upright, her form smoking slightly, the cluster of black crescent moons on her forehead glowing ominously, merciless brown eyes flaming with fury. Instead of panicking, however, she felt her pounding heart pumping adrenaline through her veins, driven by the joy of having her two best friends back, and she leapt to her feet, pulling Mars and Mercury up with her.

_Just let me say something, _she begged her friends, broadcasting her plan to them.

_Of course, _Mercury assured her, nodding her head infinitesimally.

_I'm all for it, _Mars said, a savage grin spreading across her face as she sensed her intentions. A flaming glint came into her dark eyes as she looked at Genesis, weak and shuddering, not a trace of remorse in her face. "Lady Genesis," she snarled, her tongue twisting the name into an insult. "It's been too nice getting to know you."

"I agree," Mercury added, clenching her fists slightly. "We can hardly stand for sorrow at what we're about to do."

The three Sailor Soldiers arranged themselves in a tight group, careful to keep contact with at least each other as they sank into various poses of offense and defence, their forms glowing with ruby, gold and sapphire light respectively.

Venus spoke next, her voice ringing with mocking triumph as she glared at the Dark Queen. "All powerful you may be," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm that contradicted everything she said. "But you definitely aren't all-knowing. 'Moon Princess?' Are you honestly that moronic? Why do you think my friends have been calling me Venus? No, I am the Soldier of Love, Sailor Venus, not Princess of the Moon."

Genesis' eyes flashed with unrestrained venom, and she opened her mouth to speak, but the Scouts beat her to it.

"SAILOR ATTACK!" they shouted, and out of their tiaras shot thick beams of gold, ruby and sapphire light respectively, spiralling and twisting and thickening to massive proportions as they rocketed towards Genesis, who twirled quickly on the spot, turning into empty space, but she was a second too late. If the Dark Queen screamed, Venus did not hear her; the moment their beams rammed into Genesis, there was a deafening explosion, accompanied by a flash of blinding white light that swallowed their world in less than a second, smothering the oppressive blackness that had surrounded them for so long. Venus' hair flew out behind her as a powerful wind tried and failed to force her backwards. Shielding her face in the crook of her arm, she shouted out to Mars and Mercury, _Not good._

But in all reality, there was nothing about their situation that was _not _good; they had beaten Genesis, the Dark Queen who had been driven insane by her desire for revenge, and they had done so without suffering mortal injury. With any luck, they were about to be blasted out of the Moon Kingdom and had managed to save Earth.

_I didn't expect this, either, Venus, _Mars yelled back, her mental cry barely audible over the uproarious winds. _Mercury, please tell me you know what's going on!_

_I wish, _Mercury grumbled, somehow missing out on the giddiness that had infected her companions. _My computer got left behind in that damn cell!_

Suddenly, the chaos that was the wind ceased, silencing the insane wind, and Venus lowered her arm from her face, squinting in the blinding brightness of her surroundings. They had rocketed to a stop, though she had not been aware that they had been moving. Seconds dragged into minutes, and the tension expanded to fill the entire, endless expanse of their surroundings, pressing painfully against her ears. Venus, Mars and Mercury pressed their backs together, hands curled into fists, straining to catch a sound that would signify an enemy's approach-

And then, the light vanished, dissolving into nothingness, lifting like an oppressive foggy curtain to unveil their surroundings. Venus gasped in utmost shock and staggered back into Mercury, who caught her arm with a trembling hand, whispering, "Oh my..."

They were standing in Venus' bedroom, with bright silver moonlight pouring in from her glass balcony door. It looked perfectly pristine, exactly how it had looked before the first orb had appeared, no evidence of the horror that had taken place just outside the apartment evident. The bed was made, the walls were spotless, papers folded neatly on her desk. Everything was in order.

That is, if you didn't count the snowy white cat looking up at them, its dark blue eyes flashing with something remarkably like annoyance. More mysterious than its expression, however, was the golden crescent moon upon its forehead, an unusual sight to all of the Scouts.

"It's a cat," Venus said, sounding stunned, as if she had never heard of such a thing before. She extended one slightly shaking hand forwards, snapping her fingers and saying hesitantly, "Um...nice kitty?"

"I wish I could say the same about you," responded the cat, in a cool, annoyed yet laid-back voice. Venus let out a short scream and jumped instinctively behind Mars, who jumped about a foot in the air, completely bewildered, peering out at the cat with a panicked expression on her face. The cat stared back at her, blinking in a half-annoyed, half-amused way. It opened its mouth to speak, but Mars beat her to it.

"EVIL SPIRIT, BE _GONE!" _she shouted, producing a paper charm out of nowhere and hurling it at the cat, while Mercury and Venus stood frozen at her sides. The strip of white paper floated down in front of the cat, who batted it aside with a sharp swipe of its paw, its dark blue eyes boring annoyedly into Mars'.

"Are you done with all the messing around?" it asked, glaring between the three of them as if expecting someone to shout 'April Fools!' When none of them did, the expression faded from its face, replaced by a rueful look. "It's weird that you don't recognize me, Mina," it muttered in its cool, masculine voice. "But Luna warned me it would probably be like this. It was the same with Serena and Lita."

"Excuse me," Mercury asked, sounding politely bewildered. "But who _are _you."

The cat's stare shifted to Mercury, who alone seemed to think that it was not dangerous. "Artemis," he declared, blinking up at her. "Sailor Venus' guardian and mentor. Of course, you know all this, but..."

"But what?" Mars demanded, sounding wary. "And how do we know this isn't a trap?"

"If it was a trap, you guys wouldn't still be here," Artemis told her, staring up at Mars in his half annoyed, half amused way. "Plus, I'm a _cat_, so there isn't much I could do to overpower you three.

"Anyways," he continued, leaping off of Venus' bed and stretching luxuriantly. "I've been searching all over Japan for you, Mina, because all the Sailor Soldiers were blasted to different parts of the country after the first battle with Lady Genesis, way back in the Silver Millennium."

Venus, Mars and Mercury all looked confusedly at each other, none of them having understood a single thing the cat had said. _Silver Millennium? _She thought in bewilderment. _Another battle with Genesis?_

"But," Mercury asked, struggling to keep the scepticism from her voice. "There are only _three _Sailor Soldiers!"

"No," Venus said suddenly, as a memory struck her. "There are others. _Two _others, right?" The faces of the blonde haired and brunette girl flashed through her mind, as did excitement, for she sensed that that particular mystery was about to be solved.

"Nope," Artemis said, and Venus raised her eyebrows. _"Six _others. One for every planet but Earth, because the Moon has one.

"You must be thinking of Serena and Lita, Mina," Artemis observed wisely. "Or Sailors Moon and Jupiter. You make up the Guardian Soldiers of the Inner solar system, guarding Sailor Moon, the Moon Princess."

A wave of understanding swept through Venus; Sailor Moon was obviously the blonde girl she had envisioned, for the similarities between them were very obvious now that she compared the two of them. Artemis, sensing her understanding, continued speaking.

"See? You d remember. Well, sort of. There are also four Outer Scouts, Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn. They guard the outer solar system from external threats." Artemis stopped abruptly, shaking his head in anger. "This isn't right. I'm not explaining it properly. When Luna told the others, they got their memories back right away." He turned to look sharply over his shoulder at Mars, his piercing blue eyes urgent. "Take them to your grandfather's shrine," he told her, scampering across the wooden floor. "I'll meet you guys there."

And Artemis streaked out to her balcony without another word. With a cry, Venus ran after him, pulling her silken curtain aside, but the cat had already vanished. "What do you guys think?" she asked, turning to face Mars and Mercury. Their faces mirrored how she felt; overwhelmed, confused and slightly sceptical, but mingling amongst those was a trace of remembrance.

"It's weird," Mercury muttered, shaking her head. "My heart believes him, but my brain doesn't. I wonder why we don't remember any of what he's been saying?" she added thoughtfully, and Mars shrugged.

"I don't sense any evil about him," she informed them, which came as a huge relief to Venus. "There's no harm in following him."

They stood in silence for a moment, united in their thoughts, and then, with wordless nods to each other, they sprinted from the room.


	7. Reunion! The Nine Sailor Soldiers United

Heyy readers! I apologize for this GAPING absence of writing. I was kinda obsessed with finishing my other Sailor Moon fanfic, Tournament of the Sacred Ten. I just want you all to know that I'll be concentrating on this one now, so expect regular updates. Thanks for your patience!

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Twenty minutes later found the Scouts sprinting up hundreds of stairs, their gazes set upon Hikawa Shrine, Mars in the lead. Venus was several paces behind her fellows, her head swarming with questions. _Why does Genesis hate this Moon Princess? Why did we need to fight her in the first place? _And, _The Silver Millenium? Does that mean that we all lived on the Moon at one point? In that palace? It must be, why else would I have seen flashes of it before?_

Even so, the possibility that she had once lived on the Moon, in a time when technology would have been millennia behind where it was now, was ludicrous; the fact that a civilization had apparently flourished on its barren surface for so long while remaining undiscovered was ridiculous. Then again, even with modern technology, the ruins of the Moon Kingdom had still not been discovered...

Venus was so absorbed in her thoughts that she only awake when she crashed into Sailor Mercury at the top of the steps, nearly tripping over backwards, but she managed to regain her balance before that happened. What she saw, however, nearly caused her to lose her balance once again.

They were all assembled before her, statues in the bright moonlight that shone through the trees surrounding the shrine. Two Venus recognized, having seen them before in her visions. Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter sat on the wooden steps leading to the building. Sailor Moon, the girl who bore the faint resemblance to her, a resemblance that had nearly cost all three of them their lives, was beaming, the moonlight bouncing off her teeth, eyes welling with happiness at this reunion. Jupiter, too, was smiling, and it made her look far less angry in person. On Sailor Moon's left side sat two cats, the snowy white one named Artemis, and a charcoal black cat with an upside down golden crescent moon on its forehead.

_Luna, _Venus realized, déjà vu coursing through her. _Now, how did I know that? _This revelation made her realize, however, that no matter how ludicrous this all seemed, it was, in fact, true.

There were four other Soldiers, scattered throughout Hikawa Shrine, and the Soldier of Love assumed that they had to be Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn, but she had no idea which was which. They were divided into pairs, and her eyes fell first upon the two that were closest to her. One of them, who looked older than all three of them, had short, sandy blonde hair and a genial face, but at the moment, her dark blue eyes were narrowed in something remarkably like wariness. Her skirt was darkest navy blue, almost black, and the bow on her chest was bright yellow. At first glance, Venus thought she was a man. Beside her stood a girl who was several inches shorter, with thick, curly turquoise hair that fell to the middle of her back. She looked to be about a year older than all three of them, and had smiling dark blue eyes and a knowing mouth, casting off an aura of kindness that her companion lacked. Not far away stood a young woman who was at least two heads taller than any of them, and she appeared tan even in the moonlight. She had thick, dark green hair that was pulled into a high ponytail and fell past her waist, and had dark red eyes filled with an ancient sadness haunting them. She carried a tall white staff with a large ruby stone set at its top that glowed through the night, and she cast off a feeling of immense isolation.

The final girl stood close to the staff-wielding Scout, with sad violet eyes and straight black hair that formed a shoulder length curtain around her pale face. She was younger than anyone else present, seeming to be about thirteen years old, but she carried a lethal-looking, scythe-like blade at her side, warning Venus that she was not to be trifled with.

"Sailor Venus," a voice whispered, a soft, mysterious voice that floated out of the darkness, though it was anyone's guess who it belonged to. "Sailor Mars. Sailor Mercury. This reunion has been much overdue."

The Sailor with long green hair took a small step forward, so Venus assumed that it must have been her who had spoken. "I am Sailor Pluto," she murmured, in her soft, mysterious voice. "As you will remember soon enough. I'm sure this is all extremely confusing, but you'll only need to bear with me for a moment.

"For the past week, explosions such as those you have experienced here in Tokyo have savaged the rest of the country. After every attack, hundreds of people were lost to the cause of Lady Genesis, every trace of them wiped from the Earth's surface.

"These attacks, though horrible, have served as a sort of blessing in disguise; because of this crisis, we have been brought back together, the memories of our past returned to each of us, thanks to Artemis and Luna. But even after you three left to battle Genesis for a second time, the attacks continued, and each of us has been working tirelessly to halt them. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful; with each attack, thousands more were lost, and even after you defeated Genesis, the abducted have not returned."

"We think that Genesis hasn't been killed," said a low, almost masculine voice, belonging to the Scout with short blonde hair. Her companion nodded wisely, but did not speak.

"I ask you now," the woman named Sailor Pluto murmured. "To look into my Garnet Orb. See it, and nothing else."

She extended her long white staff, and Venus, after enduring a split second of extreme scepticism, shifted her gaze from the mysterious Pluto's face to look hard at her Garnet orb, eager for their veiled past to reveal itself.

For a moment, there was silence. But then her vision tunnelled, and Venus felt herself moving forwards very quickly, chaotic winds roaring in her ears, vision obscured by blackness-

But just as suddenly as it had vanished, the world around her reappeared, and Venus was stunned to see that she was no longer standing outside Mars' grandfather's shrine, but on a white marble balcony that looked out onto an ivory city that was ablaze with burning red flames, half-obscured by choking black smoke, the screams of hundreds of people assaulting her ears. In a distant corner of her mind, a corner that was not transfixed with horror, Venus realized that she was not, in fact, on Earth, but on the moon once more.

_The Moon Kingdom, _she remembered, and she felt memories buried deep inside her mind, flashes of colour and flickers of emotion, struggling to be free, fighting violently against the chains that bound them to darkness.

And then a series of disjointed images flashed through her mind; the girl called Sailor Moon stood before her, sheathed in a flowing white gown and glass slippers, watching, transfixed with horror, from a marble balcony as the city burned beneath her.

_Princess Serena, _Venus realized with a jolt.

Then, a woman who could have been – and probably was – Princess Serena's mother, exactly her double except that she looked slightly older, her dress was more elaborate and she had soft lavender hair instead of shining blonde.

_Queen Serenity._

These were followed by a cackling Lady Genesis, whose long red hair flew out behind her as she shot jagged bolts of black light out of her clawed hands, her maniacal laughter mingling oddly with the cackle of flames that encircled her; bolts of lightning lashing out from the sky and striking pristine marble homes with explosions of noise, prompting them to burst into violent flame; daemons, humanoid freaks who resembled an army of Genesis' servants Equinox and Solstice, pouncing upon screaming, helpless civilians; Genesis again, now locked in ferocious combat with Queen Serenity, both of them shooting streaks of brightly coloured light at each other while ducking behind shields of translucent energy; a knight, clad in magnificent silver armour, leaping in front of a frozen Princess Serena and taking a burst of green light to the chest, a sacrifice that reduced him to a smouldering pile of ash.

Now these images came to a halt, resting upon Sailors Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and herself sprinting through the magnificent entrance hall of the Moon Palace, Sailor Venus in the lead. They burst out of the cavernous golden doors and stopped dead outside, a collective gasp of horror escaping their lips; a massive woman, whose flaming red hair was flying out behind her, writhing like a hundred monstrous snakes, was making her way towards the palace, sheathed in a silken dress of red and orange. Her eyes were a solid, poisonous yellow, and she destroyed all that was in her path by either stepping on it or slashing it out of her way with a gargantuan, flaming whip.

"It's _her!" _screamed Mercury, pointing unnecessarily at the monstrous woman.

Sailor Jupiter swore, then snarled in a disbelieving voice, "I never thought we'd see _her _on the moon."

"It doesn't matter what we thought we would or wouldn't see," Sailor Venus said sternly. "The only thing that matters is that Queen Serenity and Princess Serena are in danger. It's our duty to stop harm from befalling them, even if it costs us our lives!"

Mars nodded, her dark eyes reflecting the flaming Moon Kingdom. "Lady Genesis won't get away with this!"

"In the name of love and justice, we will punish her!" cried Jupiter, putting her hand out. "Who's with me?"

"Sailor Venus!" Venus declared, placing her hand on Jupiter's.

"Sailor Mercury!" Mercury cried, adding her hand to the pile.

"Sailor Mars!" Mars finished, placing her hand on top, and, in perfect unison, the Scouts cried, "Scout Power!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Venus shouted, wrenching her hand out from underneath her fellows so that she could sprint out the vast doorway. "Let's teach this witch not to mess with the Moon Kingdom!"

With inarticulate cries of agreement, the other Inner Scouts raced after her, trying hard not to obsess over Genesis' sheer _size, _how she stood fifty feet tall and would have been able to destroy half the Kingdom just by lying down, or focus on the gargantuan flaming whip in her hand, which was lashing through the air so fast it appeared blurred. She was about six hundred meters from the foot of the Moon Palace, and far from noticing that the Inner Scouts were about to mount a counter attack upon her, the Dark Queen was roaring with both savage outrage and inhumane enjoyment as she tried to make her way through the flaming mass that was the Moon Kingdom.

Skidding to a collective halt at the foot of the short staircase that led to the palace entrance, Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter assumed various poses of offense and defence, careful to make sure that they were keeping contact with at least one other Soldier, their narrowed eyes fixed upon the slowly approaching Lady Genesis, who seemed oblivious to what they were about to do.

Summoning all of her remaining energy, Venus fixed her gaze upon the monstrous woman before her, calling upon all her powers of concentration as she thought, _I must protect Princess Serena and Queen Serenity. If Genesis gets to them, we're all doomed. Not just the Moon Kingdom. Not even Earth._ Everywhere. _Life will cease to exist in the universe._

And it was this grim realization that caused a bright golden glow to erupt around her, seeming to have been constructed of solid smoke, the exact same as the shield she had used to halt the monstrous purplish-black orbs that the Genesis of the present had sent to savage Tokyo. Similar shields had erupted around Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, each one corresponding to the individual Sailor's colours, and a sense of immense power emanated off the Inner Scouts in almost visible waves, waves that were directed solely at Lady Genesis-

"SAILOR ATT-"

"Stop," commanded a low, almost masculine voice.

Her breath catching in her throat, Venus whirled around, her gloved hand flying to her throat as she stared wildly about for who had stopped them. Sailor Uranus was standing just behind her, her arms folded across her chest, eyes hard, jaw set, short blonde hair flying about her face, the fiery glow of the flames that were ravaging the city reflecting oddly off her face.

"Uranus!" Venus said her name both gratefully and surprisedly. "What-?"

"Your attack won't be strong enough to defeat her," Uranus said, her voice ringing with certainty. "Genesis has grown too powerful -"

"For us to handle?" Jupiter asked fiercely. "There are four of us, Uranus -"

"And four of us," Pluto interrupted, her red eyes burning with suppressed emotion. "And we all know – forgive me – who is better equipped to deal with Genesis."

There was silence for a moment, during which Venus, Mars and Jupiter all glared at Uranus, anger emanating off of them in infuriated waves, but then Mercury gave a little gasp of understanding, clearly having heard something in Pluto's insulting remark that they had missed, sounding so horrified that Venus half-expected Genesis to have appeared in their midst.

"Eight is better than four!" the Soldier of Water exclaimed, a trace of a plea in her voice. "Please, you can't be-"

"Do you have another solution?" asked Sailor Saturn, her voice grave but determined. When they only glared back, Uranus shook her head superiorly, a faint smile upon her lips.

"Get back to Queen Serenity," she instructed them. "Protect her and her daughter."

Venus, Mars and Jupiter all protested in a unified shout of, "WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

"Yes you are," said Sailor Neptune, speaking for the first time, her soft, melodious voice uncharacteristically angry. "It's too dangerous for children such as yourselves."

Jupiter was actually shaking with rage. _"Children?" _she repeated in a menacing whisper. "We aren't _children!"_

Uranus opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a weak cry of, "Sailor Soldiers, _stop!"_

Every Soldier gasped in alarm and spun around to stare at Queen Serenity, who was clutching at her left arm and gasping with every breath. The Inner Scouts cried out in alarm and rushed forwards to help their injured queen, who looked as though she was about to faint.

"You've forgotten the true enemy," Serenity murmured, her startling lilac eyes glassy with tears. Venus bowed her head in shame, as did all the other Scouts. "Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, I fear that you should have heeded Uranus' advice earlier."

"But –" Mars protested, but Serenity silenced her with a shake of her head.

"It is not a question of power," she whispered. "But of what is best for the Moon Kingdom. And I fear that what is best may longer be able to be accomplished."

A horrific thought struck Venus, one she voiced aloud in a tremulous whisper. "Serenity...Princess Serena...is she...?"

"She is safe," the queen assured her, in the faintest of whispers, and a wave of relief washed over the Soldier of Love. "And I think it would be best if you join her, Venus...Mars...Mercury...Jupiter. Take this," Serenity withdrew a beautiful star-topped wand set with a glimmering, hundred-faced crystal sphere from her dress and pressed it into Mars' shaking hands. "It will take you to Serena, if you concentrate hard enough."

"But, Serenity," Mercury whispered, polite awe in her voice. "Isn't that -"

"Pluto," Serenity said in her quavering voice, talking over Mercury. "I entrust the duty of...the task...to you. And afterwards...you may break the taboo, for -"

"Yes," Pluto nodded, her voice steady, though her eyes told a different story. "It will be done, Serenity."

"Wait!" Venus demanded, as the wand in Mars' hands lit up and emitted a cloud of thick, sparkling dust. A thought had struck the leader of the Inner Scouts once more, a thought that was almost to ridiculous to even be considered as the faintest possibility, and Venus was so awed at what she knew was about to happen, incredulous at Serenity's nerve, that she did not have a trace of anger in her voice. "Queen Serenity, you're sending us away, aren't you?"

Mars, Jupiter and Mercury all cried out in protest, but Serenity, displaying surprising strength for one so weak, heaved herself out of Jupiter's arms and staggered away from them, standing with her back turned to them, facing the approaching Genesis, who only now seemed aware of the Scouts' presence, for she emitted a savage roar that was so loud that ground beneath them shook, jabbing a bone-white finger in their direction, vast red eyes flashing with malice.

"Goodbye, Sailor Soldiers," Serenity whispered, turning to half-smile at them. "Protect Serena with your lives. She may be the only chance at salvation we have left."

And then everything went black, allowing Venus to open her eyes. As she gazed at Sailor Pluto's Garnet Orb, she felt bridges being built inside her head, connecting her mind to the past, freeing her locked memories. It was a feeling more wonderful than one could have described; blank spaces in her memory, spaces she never knew existed, were suddenly filled with details of her past life, making the scene before her infinitely less strange.

The other Sailor Soldiers were no longer strangers to her; Serena, Sailor Moon, pure-hearted and blundering; Lita, Sailor Jupiter, strong but kind; Amara, Sailor Uranus, opinionated and stubborn; Michelle, Sailor Neptune, sweet natured and talented; Trista, Sailor Pluto, mysterious and secluded; Hotaru, Sailor Saturn, gentle but deadly powerful.

The memories of Genesis' first attack settled into her brain like the piece of a missing puzzle, explaining the malicious queen's shrouded motives; the Dark Queen, feared even by the most twisted denizens of the Negaverse, had wanted to destroy their galaxy, and then expand her kingdom in its place, with her as ruler. But to do that, she needed power, power that was greater than even she had collected, and set about collecting the souls of the people on every planet in the Solar System. Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter were all leeched dry of life, turning them into the barren wastelands that scientists on Earth had come to regard them as. Every sentient creature lost their lives in the inner solar system, albeit for one on each planet.

The Sailor Soldiers.

The Inner Scouts set out to the Moon Kingdom once their planets fell to Genesis, in the hopes of protecting the royalty there, as well as Earth, which, thanks to Queen Serenity and Princess Serena's protection, defied the Dark Queen's efforts to claim it. The Outer Scouts' attempts to defy Genesis, however, were not as successful, and lost their planets to her cause.

So, the Sailor Soldiers gathered at the Moon Kingdom, to protect Serenity and Serena, who were prized – and hated – by Genesis for the power of their souls. Naturally, if she claimed them, the Earth would not have stood a chance.

The Dark Queen mounted her assault against the Moon Kingdom with alarming speed, and, in the hopes of drawing the queen and her daughter out of the Moon Palace, she destroyed the city...

"But," Venus asked aloud, and every eye albeit the wandering ones of the stunned Mars and Mercury flickered to her face. "How did you destroy Genesis, back on the moon?"

"Destroy, no," Neptune said, stepping away from Uranus with a sad expression on her face. "Seremity knew that we would not be able to kill Genesis, even with Sailor Saturn's Silence Glaive. She may have possessed enough power to destroy a planet, but Genesis had the might of _eight _planets on her side, and, though she would be incredibly weakened, she would not be dead..."

"Serenity's plan was to imprison Genesis," Uranus explained in her low voice. "It was the best we could do, at any rate. The main goal was to keep Serena and Serenity out of Genesis' grasp."

"And so, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune attacked her," Pluto said, her eyes as far away as her mysterious voice. "Saturn's Silence Glaive was enough to greatly weaken Genesis, though the Messiah of Silence was killed – but later reborn, as you can see.

"Incapacitated as she was, Genesis was unable to defend herself when I locked her in a division of the Space-Time Door. There, trapped in limbo, neither here nor there, she would be unable to cause any more harm...for a time."

"Queen Serenity knew that nothing would hold such immense power eternally," Saturn said, speaking for the first time, and her voice, which had been quavering and shy in the Moon Kingdom, was now encased in an iron-like firmness that had not been present before. "But she told Pluto what to do when she returned, so that after the queen died, we would have to knowledge of how to defeat Genesis."

"Queen Serenity is _dead?" _Mercury gasped in alarm that was shared by Venus and Mars. The Soldier of Love felt as shocked as if Saturn had just impaled her with her Silence Glaive. _Serenity cannot be dead, _she thought, numb with horror. The idea of the ruler of the Moon Kingdom, _gone, _was impossible, intolerable.

Uranus raised her long, thin eyebrows at the Inner Scouts' reaction to this news. "If she were alive, why wouldn't she be standing here with us?" she asked in a sorrowful voice. "No, Queen Serenity's final act was sending you to Earth's future, to protect Serena."

"When Serenity sent you four to Earth," Uranus continued, the sorrow evaporating from her voice as she spoke, her voice becoming cool, distant again. "Some of her Silver Crystal's magic diverted itself so that it could be used on myself, Neptune and Saturn. When Pluto locked Genesis away in the Space-Time Door, the same spell that had transported you to Earth, a spell that was timed to come into effect the moment Genesis left the Moon Kingdom, teleported myself and Neptune to Earth and, it seems, made it so that when Saturn was reborn, she would appear on Earth.

"Being teleported to Earth meant that we lost our memories of our lives on the Moon Kingdom," Uranus continued, linking arms with Neptune. "And, as we have now found out, made it so that whichever Sailor Scouts we happened to arrive with seemed to us to be the only other Sailors in our galaxy. This meant that Pluto, who was charged with guarding the Space-Time Door, was the only Sailor Soldier who had full knowledge on our past with Genesis. While she guarded the door, we arrived on Earth and met up with Artemis and Luna, who had found Hotaru in baby form, and not yet awoken as Sailor Saturn."

"Jupiter and I arrived together," Sailor Moon declared, getting to her feet, and the sound of her warm, bubbly, almost giddy voice, which was barely containing her excitement, sent a pang of something oddly like homesickness rushing through Venus. "And, like Uranus and Neptune, we had no idea there were any other Sailor Soldiers. But, when the attacks started, we ended up running into them."

"You can imagine the shock," laughed Jupiter, also getting to her feet. "We managed to destroy the orbs, but each of us thought that the other pair had set off the orb, and we tried to attack each other, but then Luna intervened and explained everything." She winked at Luna. "Then everything kinda clicked in."

Venus smiled broadly, and then, unable to take it any longer, rushed over to Jupiter and Sailor Moon, throwing her arms around them. It was as if the past few years had never happened, like they had just arrived from the Moon Kingdom after their first encounter with Genesis. Then, after a moment suspended into a glorious eternity, two lumps hit them, Mars and Mercury, and a feeling of immense warmth, of righteousness, the feeling of completion, spread through her.

_This is how it's supposed to be, _Venus thought, blubbering slightly when she felt tears of happiness streaking down her face. _How it's always been. How it always _will _be._

But, as she had long since learned, all good things must come to an end, and in this instance, it came in the form of Sailor Mercury speaking. "But if Genesis returned," Mercury asked slowly, and the Inner Scouts broke apart, their smiles fading from their face as they listened to the Soldier of Water speak. "Where were you, Pluto?"

The Guardian of Time, who had been staring up at the sky as though mesmerized by it, slowly lowered her eyes to stare almost musingly at Mercury. After a brief moment of silence, she spoke.

"I could feel that she was getting stronger," Pluto's dark red eyes flashed menacingly when she mentioned Genesis. "Serenity told me not to fight her, for although most of the souls she had collected from the planets would have escaped her body during her time in limbo and flew to the underworld, she was still incredibly powerful and would have been strong enough to kill me a hundred times over. As you can tell, a fight would have been pointless.

"So in a sense, I let her escape; I left the Door in favour of finding Uranus and Neptune, who I knew would have been looking for Hotaru. When I found them, I was unsurprised to see she had assumed the same form she had been in when I had last seen her; Genesis, who had escaped by the time I reached them, would have caused the Messiah of Silence to awaken, thus accelerating her aging...

"Once we were reunited with Serena and Jupiter, only one mystery remained; the whereabouts of you three. Neither Sailors nor Artemis nor Luna could find you. But when the attacks upon the country ceased for three days, we knew you had done something; Genesis would not halt her malicious assaults unless faced with an immense threat. We did not expect you to defeat the Dark Queen, but we hoped you would survive and be able to rejoin us."

"The only question now is what she wants," Neptune murmured thoughtfully, and Uranus, punching her arm softly, answered playfully.

"Revenge, of course. I'm sure she'd love to sink her fangs into Uranus and Pluto after what they did to her."

"She was pretty obsessed with you, too, Serena," Mars murmured thoughtfully, and Sailor Moon flinched, apparently startled. "Genesis thought Venus was the Moon Princess, remember, guys."

"Yeah," Venus said, frowning as she strained to remember Genesis' other impossible query. "And...some mirror...the Galactical Mirror, or something like that..."

Pluto's head snapped up suddenly, her dark red eyes widening until they were roughly the same size as her Garnet Orb. _"Of course," _she breathed, sounding horrified. "Of _course! _That's why...oh gods..."

Everyone stared at her in bewilderment, frozen in varying degrees of shock, breaking free when the Guardian of Time shook her head slightly, then elaborated.

"Genesis doesn't just want revenge, she wants _power," _she explained, and her free hand curled into a fist at her own words. "Serena, Genesis wants you dead not only because the threat you possess to her, but because you are one of the nine princesses of this galaxy. Hence the significance of the Galactical Mirror; it shows who the nine princesses are. These princesses – one for every planet – represent the only threats to Genesis' obsession with conquest, for two reasons. Each princess possesses something called a Planet Crystal, which is basically the soul of the planet they come from. It allows them to wield impossible amounts of power that are fuelled by their planets, and, because of this, when all nine princesses are united, it will mean Lady Genesis' doom.

"I'm sure that your Silver Crystal, Serena, is the Planet Crystal of the moon, and so I urge you _never _to let it out of your sight."

"How do you _know _all this?" Venus asked in amazement, and Pluto merely smiled her mysterious smile.

Uranus, however, would not stand side-tracking. "How do we find these princess?" she asked, frowning.

"I think that only two things survived Genesis' attack on each planet," she announced, apparently not wanting to give Uranus a straight answer. "A Sailor Soldier and a Planet Crystal, for Planet Crystals should, in theory, only be destroyed if its planet is, and vice versa.

"I think that the spectacle of seeing all nine princesses being united – in the unlikely event that all of them survived Genesis' soul-collection – is one that we will not get to see; in any event, the princess' are not strictly necessary to her defeat. As long as we can collect the Planet Crystals before Genesis, we'll be able to seal her away forever."

**Moon Kingdom**

Lady Genesis was not a stranger to blackness; she had floated through it for what seemed like an eternity, and found it peaceful, a safe haven. But now, this blackness, this one shard of serenity, was now being haunted by the face of Sailor Venus, renting her calmness apart, her most sacred of recluses.

The girl's parting words haunted her mind, playing over and over again inside her head like an eternal reminder of her mistake, and each time she heard it was like a slap to the face.

'_Moon Princess?' _Venus had scoffed. _'My name is Sailor Venus, the Soldier of Love, not the Princess of the Moon."_

Of course, it seemed obvious now that she was not the Moon Princess, for though she did slightly resemble the heiress to the throne, the true princess was nearly identical to her mother, Queen Serenity. And yet, the same threatening aura surrounded the Venus girl as the one that lingered about the Moon Princess, like a blinding light, and the most maddening thing about it was that she could not think _why _it was there.

_Yes, she did attack me rather viciously, with the help of her idiotic companions, Mars and Mercury, _Genesis admitted grudgingly, sifting through her vast reserves of memories. _But the aura was detectable even before they attacked me. So why is it there? What power does this girl have that I did not see when I possessed her? Where have I seen this girl before?_

Obviously, she had seen her in the Moon Kingdom, on the eve of her imprisonment in limbo, having caught a fleeting glimpse of her before the blasted Queen Serenity had sent her and three other Sailor Soldiers to safety, but somehow, that memory of the Soldier of Love did not seem to fit...

_When? Where? _Genesis demanded of herself, her heart pounding deafeningly in her ears, anger coursing through her. _Where have I seen Sailor Venus bef-_

She stopped abruptly, the thought solidifying in her mind like ice, and, after a split second of stunned, absolute silence, she felt an evil triumph flood through her. _Sailor Venus knew of the Galactical Mirror's existence, and was determined to keep it from me, because she knew that once I possessed it, I would see that she was not the true Moon Princess. Why would she want to keep this secret from me? Because Sailor Venus is, in fact – _

With a gasp of shock, Genesis' blood red eyes snapped open, breaking through the paralyzing seal that was the lingering Sailor Attack.

"Sailor Venus," she whispered, almost oblivious to her return to body, sitting up from the ground while a slow smile spread across her pale face. "The Moon Princess' sister at heart."


	8. Show Them! Venus, A Bright Star of Hope

**Hikawa Shrine**

Shortly after Sailor Pluto's revelation, she and the other Outer Scouts departed the moonlit shrine. With her memories of her life on the Moon Kingdom returned to her, Venus knew that Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn preferred to work separately from her and the other Inner Scouts, and that Uranus especially was not overly-fond of them.

She, at least, was not greatly saddened by their leaving; Mars quickly invited everyone to stay at the shrine overnight, and not one of the declined.

"You have no idea how much we missed you guys," Mercury said, once they were inside Mars' grandfather's shrine. "Now that we've known you've been gone, anyway."

"I don't understand how we never ran into you guys!" Jupiter cried out in exasperation, turning away from them as a blitz of green light cackled to life all around her, whisking away her Sailor Soldier outfit and replacing it with her civilian clothes. "After all this time, we didn't even catch whispers of other Sailor Soldiers' existence!"

"Well, we haven't exactly been _able _to run into them, though," Sailor Moon observed, pausing from devouring her moon cake. "I mean, we haven't been in school -"

Venus and Mars automatically looked at Mercury, both of them smiling hugely; Mercury's expression was one of utmost shock, and she looked to be restraining herself from saying something immensely awful with great difficulty.

"You haven't been in _school?" _she managed to choke out, practically spitting fire. Unable to contain it any longer, Venus burst into laughter, her guffaws mingling with Mars', and they were soon joined by Serena and Jupiter, and, after a moment, a slightly grudging Mercury. Once they started, it was hard to stop. Venus' lungs were burning and, her whole body was shaking and her face was streaked with tears of laughter before she even began to try to catch her breath.

Several hours later, the shrine was silent, albeit for the slow breathing of Serena, Rei, Ami and Lita. Mina alone was awake, her dark blue eyes boring a hole into the wooden ceiling above her, cursing her inability to fall asleep, when she heard a small, quickly stifled sob. She sat bolt upright and whipped her head around, so fast that the air hissed faintly and causing her neck to crack painfully.

Serena was standing by one of the room's windows, bathed in moonlight, silvery tears pouring silently down her pale cheeks, her blue eyes puffy and bloodshot.

"Serena!" Mina gasped, getting to her feet. Serena looked around in alarm, her large blue eyes glistening with tears.

"I'm s-sorry, M-Mina!" Serena sobbed, embarrassededly brushing tears from her eyes. "I didn't m-mean to w-wake you up!"

"I was already awake," Mina told her firmly, her eyes narrowing slightly and stepping over the sleeping Lita, clamping her hand on her friend's shoulder."What's up?"

Serena closed her eyes, an act that did not stem the flow of her tears, took a deep, shuddering breath, and, in a slow, tremulous voice, whispered, "E-Everything! We've o-only just been reunited, a-and...I c-can't stop thinking about a-all those people who G-Genesis t-took...and they h-haven't come back...and _h-her, _that we'll h-have to...to face her in the end! And there's n-never any guarantees that'll we'll a-all make it o-out a...alive -"

"Serena!" Mina said reproachfully, causing Mercury's even breathing to catch in her throat. "Don't be ridiculous!"

When this only caused her friend to cry harder – though it was still incredibly quiet – Mina seized her by the shoulders and gave her a small shake, causing Serena's eyes to slide open, her face shining with agony as she forced herself to look into her eyes.

"Nothing's going to happen to us, do you hear me?" Mina hissed, her fingers tightening on her shoulders. _"Nothing. _We're going to be fine. None of us has been killed in the past, and Genesis isn't about to break the streak." She paused for a moment, deliberating for a split second whether or not to continue, then, speaking in a very quiet voice, whispered, "Before we left the Moon Kingdom, Serenity made us swear to protect you, Serena, at all costs. _You _are our future. Earth's future. There is _nothing _more important than your survival. I promise, on behalf of Venus and the Inner Scouts, that Genesis won't touch you."

Serena did not speak for a long time; she wiped the tears from her face and reduced her sobs to the occasional hiccup. Eventually, she had calmed herself down enough to speak and, in a tremulous whisper, asked, "What was it like...facing Genesis?"

Mina looked away from Serena, her dark blue eyes shifting to stare unseeingly out the window. For several moments, she considered her question, unsure how she could describe the encounter or, indeed, if she even _could. _It had certainly been one of the most traumatizing ones of her life, full with fear and pain and uncertainty, and the memory of her final – nearly fatal – encounter with the Dark Queen hung sharp in her mind, and each time she focused upon it, a sharp burst of agony shot through her.

"It's... difficult to describe," she said finally, her eyes a million miles away. "I was terrified, the whole time. We were in a different world...an old world, but we knew nothing about it. She had us cornered from every side, had the whole encounter planned out from beginning to end. At one point, I was alone...I thought Mars and Mercury were...were dead," at this, her stomach seemed to drop through the floor, leaving a gaping, ice cold hole in its place, the memory of how Genesis had possessed her and forced her to attack Mars and Mercury just as painful as the most potent means of torture. "And I thought...I thought that was it. But it wasn't, and we all escaped, so it proves she has a weakness. And if three of us could take her on, then she's no match for nine of us. Don't worry, Serena," she murmured, clasping one of her hands in both her own, for she looked close to tears once more. "Soon we'll have her locked away for good."

Neither she nor Serena spoke of their conversation the next morning, and even if they wanted to, they wouldn't have gotten the chance. Serena, Mina, Lita and Ami awoke the next morning to Rei's shrill cry of rage, so furious was she that several birds cawed loudly and departed a nearby evergreen tree.

"_Why _didn't you come and tell us what happened, Trista?" Rei demanded from outside.

"There was no need," Trista murmured calmly, in sharp contrast to Rei's outraged voice. "We had the situation contained."

Rei snorted in disbelief, and it wasn't hard for Mina to imagine the outrage etched upon the Soldier of Fire's face. "Did Amara tell you to say that?" she scoffed, her voice acidic. "Would it _kill _her to swallow her pride and ask her for help?"

Wordlessly, Serena led the others outside at a run, skidding to a halt on the huge wooden porch outside the shrine. Rei, dressed in her miko robes, was standing with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed, her furious gaze almost visibly boring into Trista's, and – was it a mere trick of the light? – there was a slight heat haze emanating off her quivering form. Trista, Sailor Pluto in civilian form, was standing stock still several feet away from the outraged Rei, dressed in a lilac college uniform, though it did not change the fact that she was startlingly tall, had her long, sparkling jade hair and sorrowful red eyes, and for all the good it did to help her blend in, she may as well have paraded about Tokyo in her Sailor Soldier uniform. When the four of them arrived on Rei's porch, Trista, still looking completely calm, shifted her dark red eyes from Rei's outraged face to look at each of their faces in turn.

"A civilian has been attacked," Trista informed them. "A girl who bore a striking resemblance to Neptune. It happened late last night, without so much as the faintest amount of warning. There were no witnesses.

"Sailor Uranus and Neptune were closest to the attack sight, but by the time they arrived at the girl's side, she was unconscious. A demon stood over her, the sign of Genesis upon its forehead, holding what we believed to be her soul.

"As soon as the demon saw Uranus and Neptune, it caused the girl's soul to turn black, returned it to her, and vanished. Immediately, the girl returned to consciousness and transformed into a demon. Her strength rivalled even Uranus, and she was about as far from rationality as Genesis herself. It took the combined efforts of myself, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to defeat her."

Silence fell over the six of them like a blanket; Mina was contemplating everything Trista had told them, trying to understand why Rei still looked so disgusted, confusedly searching for the thing about the Guardian of Time's story that earned her the look that Rei was throwing her, something remarkably like hatred upon her face. _They defeated her, _Mina thought, frowning slightly. _So shouldn't Rei be hap- oh no._

Serena seemed to have come to the same conclusion as she did. "But...Trista," she said, her voice trembling as she stepped slowly down the wooden porch stairs. "The girl – what happened to her?"

Trista closed her eyes and turned away, which was answer enough for all of them; Mina felt as though her stomach had been plunged into icy water, shock solidified the air in her lungs, but it was quickly replaced by a burning mass of anger. Uranus and Neptune were not bothered with sacrifice, that they knew from experience, but she had thought that Trista and Hotaru were opposed to giving up lives.

"We did everything we could," Trista implored them, turning to face them once more, her eyes fixed on Serena, who seemed to be on the verge of fainting, leaning on Ami for support. "But in the end, there was nothing we could d-"

"GO!" Rei shouted suddenly, her eyes aflame. "LEAVE _NOW, _TRISTA!"

Trista looked at Rei, an expression of mingled shame and – was it pity? – on her face, but she turned and walked away, vanishing slightly before she reached the top of the vast staircase leading up to the shrine.

It took a while to calm Serena down, who was more opposed to sacrifice than any of them and seemed to take the Outer Scouts' actions as a sort of betrayal. Eventually, though, after each of them had used every last drop of their powers of consolation and Lita had promised to cook breakfast, Serena consented to come inside.

All throughout breakfast, Mina was silent, feeling as though her brain had been eclipsed with horror. After all they had done, after Mars, Mercury and she had used every last drop of their energies fighting the Dark Queen, after she had been possessed by her and all three of them had teetered precariously on the verge of death, Genesis had managed to return in less than seventy-two hours.

_She's back, _the Soldier of Love thought dully, the realization causing her insides to turn to lead. _She's back and she's not gonna stop until we're all dead._

"Why Michelle, though?" Ami wondered aloud, after they had finished eating, her voice tearing through Mina's horrified stupor and bringing her violently back to Earth. "Why would Genesis want to attack _her?"_

"It's weird," Mina agreed, racking her brains for Genesis' motive. "Out of all the Scouts she'd want to get back at, you'd think it'd be Pluto, Saturn, or any one of us. Neptune did the least to piss her off."

"Unless she wants to pick us off one by one," Rei pointed out darkly. "Which would suit her just perfectly, taking out the easy targets first. It's not like she exactly loves us."

Although Serena, Ami and Lita all seemed to think that Rei had voiced a reasonable explanation, Mina was not convinced, and she could sense the Soldier of Fire did not believe herself, either. By the time the sun had properly risen, Ami departed, almost unbelievably, for the library, and Lita dashed off to her own house, seeming intent on something she only bothered to half-explain.

Serena, Mina declared, would benefit from some company, and, though she was very polite about it, Rei hinted that she needed the two of them to follow Ami and Lita's leads and leave the shrine. True to her identity as Sailor Venus, Mina knew that, on top of needing a friend now more than ever, she knew that Serena was in danger more than any of them and would be a prime target for Genesis if left on her own.

"Arcade?" Mina suggested, after they had gotten over the indignation that accompanied Rei ushering them away from Hiwaka Shrine, and Serena's eyes lit up at the prospect.

The afternoon passed in a blur of good-natured rivalry, and Serena seemed to have been distracted from the demise of the innocent girl, at the very least, by the time the owner kicked them out at closing time. They left without complaint, for they were absorbed in their argument about who was the better race car driver, talking in such loud voices that they didn't notice where they were going, much less the falling darkness.

Only when Serena finally admitted defeat did Mina jerk out of their isolated bubble of conversation. The moon was low in the sky, the streetlamps glowing orange, lining both sides of the deserted street, throwing the car junkyard that barred the path ahead into sharp relief. On their left sat open water, and on their right was a vast expanse of grey-faced, windowless warehouses, all locked for the night. Mina knew that they were not far from one of the main roads, and knew that the sooner they got back into the public eye, the better.

"Not lost, are ya, beautifuls?" called a raucous man's voice from behind them, followed by roars of rough laughter.

"Oh, gods," Mina muttered, turning slowly, while Serena whimpered and pressed close to her side. She could hear her friend's heart throwing itself against her ribcage as though determined to break through it, and the panic emanating off her was almost visible.

Five men were strolling towards them, all about twenty years of age, laughing in booming voices and shoving each other good-naturedly. They halted before them in a loose semi-circle, making sure to block the nearby ally, which, Mina realized with a sinking heart, was the closest escape route to the street she had been planning to take.

"No, we're fine, thanks," she told them in a voice of forced calm, though she clenched her fists at her sides and shifted to her right slightly so that Serena was blocked from view.

"Really?" barked one of the men, the oldest and boldest of the group, grinning at his friends with a menacing air lingering about him. "Because you look like your could use our help."

Mina was not interested in any sort of _help _these stupid men had in mind; her heart was pounding in her ears, her mouth had gone bone dry, and she quickly cast her mind about for any path they could take to get away from the five men before them, but she knew that it wasn't going to be easy to get away; yes, she and Serena were capable of taking on twisted demons from the Negaverse, but only as Sailor Venus and Sailor Moon. Right now, they were cornered outside a deserted junkyard, looking for all the world like two helpless teenage girls.

The man who had spoken stepped forwards, a hungry glint in his eyes as he reached out one hand to touch her face. Lightning fast, Mina seized his wrist and held it fast, her fear instantly morphing into anger, a furious snarl upon her face.

"Get back," she snarled, her eyes flashing angrily.

The man's eyes widened in surprise at her iron grip, but, after glancing embarrassedly at his companions, who were struck-dumb at her actions, he fixed a mocking smile of forced cockiness upon her face and recovered, wrenching his hand free of her grip, though not without effort.

"This one's got some fight in her!" he cawed, and his friends, breaking free of their shock, guffawed like a pack of hyenas. "Oh well, that means you're fir-"

Mina didn't let him finish; she brought her knee upward with crushing force, ramming it into his groin, and as the man doubled over in pain, yelling in both agony and alarm, she brought her elbow down hard upon his back, causing him to crumple to the ground.

With stupid roars, the others blundered forwards, not quite managing to disguise their wariness of her, the only person who had ever succeeded in fighting one of them off, and Mina tensed in front of Serena, preparing to attack, while Serena let out a shrill cry of terror, but, quite suddenly, someone shouted from atop the warehouse beside them, causing the four men to freeze in mid-attack –

"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"

With an explosion of what sounded like a thousand waves berating the ground, a dark sphere of swirling, glowing water shot down from the velvety blackness that was the night, slamming into the four men like a bowling bowl rocketing through dominos, blasting one into the concrete wall, while the other three were sent flailing into the water, their yells of pain and terror echoing behind them.

Mina relaxed as Sailor Neptune dropped silently down in front of them, half stunned, half awed to see that she was not accompanied by Uranus.

"Neptune!" Serena cried weak with relief as she stumbled out from behind Mina. "Thank you!"

"What are you doing here?" Neptune demanded her floating, melodious voice stern for once.

"We could ask you the same question," Mina retorted, raising her eyebrows. "Where's Sailor Uranus?"

Neptune stared at her for a long moment, evidently unsure as to what she was to say in response. Then, quite abruptly, she murmured, "Following you. Uranus is looking out for Lita."

"Why?" Serena asked blankly, and Neptune smiled slightly.

"Amara doesn't think any of you are safe, especially you two, thanks to your past with Genesis. Apparently, it wasn't a bad idea."

"Well, thanks," Mina smiled gratefully at Neptune. "I don't know what we would have done without you."

"You looked like you were doing alright," the Soldier of Ocean said, smiling again, and she clasped hands briefly with first Serena, then her. The moment she touched her hand, however, an electric current jolted through her, causing Mina to involuntarily yank her hand away. Or she would have, had Neptune relinquished her grip.

Mina gasped in utmost horror as Neptune's oceanic blue eyes became blood red, devoid of both white and pupil, and with a frightening laugh she pulled Mina forwards, her teeth bared in a cruel smile –

"SERENA, _RUN!" _she screamed, as Neptune swung her around herself as if she were no heavier than a feather, hurling her against the hard stone wall of the warehouse. With a cry of pain, Mina's head exploded in anguish, causing bursts of light to pop in front of her eyes. As the dark shadow that was Neptune advanced upon her, she heard Serena yell, "MOON COSMIC POWER!"

"_No!" _Mina gasped out, her conscious self unsure as to why she was so horrified at her friend's decision to transform. For a split second, she was paralyzed, struggling to throw off the dizziness that was assaulting her brain, and in that second, Neptune had pounced upon her, a feral snarl ripping itself from her lips, and her gloved hand seized her by the throat, forming an iron cage that pinned her against the cold concrete wall behind her, crushing the air from her lungs. She gave an indignant splutter, narrowing her eyes to slits in attempt to make out the Outer Scout's form, but all she saw was her glowing, blood red eyes.

"Die, Sailor Venus!" Neptune snarled, her fingers tightening around her throat.

Venus stopped struggling, allowing her hands to fall limply to her sides, halted in her attempts to kick Neptune off, peering out at her possessed friend out of one eye in an attempt to lull her into a false sense of security. "You first," she hissed, and in a burst of adrenaline, she seized the Outer Scout's hand and yanked her iron grip away from her throat, swinging her across her body as though she were as heavy as a doll and slamming her into the concrete wall beside her with crushing force, ripping an outraged snarl from the Soldier of the Ocean's throat. Venus slumped down the wall, the place where Neptune's fingers had dug into her throat burning dully, but, before the Outer Scout had a chance to formulate a retaliation, she rolled forwards, popping out of her somersault when she was a several meters away from the wall and whipped out her senshipen, yelling, "VENUS STAR POWER!"

Immediately, the world was obscured by a trail of orange light engraved with stars that formed a spiralling cocoon around her, replacing her vanished clothing with her Sailor Soldier uniform. With a graceful twirl, Venus burst out of the cocoon, where Sailor Moon was shouting at Neptune.

"Michelle, what's gotten into you?" she demanded, as Neptune prowled around the two of them in a slow circle.

"Genesis, that's what," Venus breathed, so that only Serena could hear her. "We have to get out of here some – _ARGH!"_

She ducked as Neptune lunged without warning, a wild snarl upon her face. Sailor Moon, however, was not as quick, and her scream mingled with Venus' as Neptune pinned her against the concrete wall that, seconds again, the Soldier of Love had been trapped against, her white-gloved hand once again crushing the air from someone's lungs. Serena struggled and kicked, panic etched upon her face, but Neptune ignored these weak blows as a dragon does a butterfly.

"Hang on, Sailor Moon!" Venus cried, putting one hand to her lips. "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTYY SH- _WOAH!" _She stopped herself in mid-shout as Neptune had whirled around so that Sailor Moon, whom she was still holding fast by the throat, was covering her front like a human shield. Neptune grinned savagely, blood red eyes gleaming as she looked on at Venus' dismay.

"What's wrong?" the Outer Scout taunted, her voice tainted by a harsh, forceful new counterpart. "Go on, attack me! Or are you too afraid that you might hurt your little friend?" Her gloved hand tightened around Sailor Moon's throat, causing her to utter a strangled cry of pain. But through her pain, she opened her eyes, which were full of determination, and she nodded infinitesimally.

Venus' eyes hardened, and with a toss of her head, she clenched her fist and bellowed, "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTY _SHOCK!"_

As her whirling mass of golden hearts rocketed towards her, Sailor Moon succeeded in kicking Neptune in the stomach, wrenching a cry of pain from her lips that instantly turned into a scream of agony as Venus' attack rammed into her, slamming her into the chain link fence of the junk yard.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Venus shouted, and Serena, who had collapsed onto the ground, leapt to her feet and nodded, producing her heart-topped, bejewelled Moon Sceptre out of nowhere.

But Neptune, who was clearly not finished, raised one hand, clenching it around an orb of glowing blue light that had appeared above it, and shouted, "Neptune Deep Submerge!"

A large, pulsating sphere of swirling, magically enhanced water exploded out of the Soldier of the Ocean's palm and sped towards a paralyzed Sailor Moon, and Venus, acting solely out of instinct, dove forwards, possessed by some sort of alien energy that gave her the strength to do what she knew must be done, that she had to push her friend out of the way, screaming, "SAILOR MOON, _NO!"_

But someone else hit Sailor Moon first, colliding with the Moon Princess with a dull thud, and as the pair flew out of harm's way, Venus caught the full force of Neptune's attack straight in the chest, an act that blasted her backwards with the force and agony that accompanied being hit by a small bomb.

"SAILOR VENUS!" came two tortured screams, as she came to a spectacular skidding halt on the paved road some thirty meters away, and the few breaths she managed to drag down felt like acidic vapour being poured down her lungs.

Though her vision was obscured by vast patches of black, though her ears were ringing with both the resulting explosion of Neptune's attack hitting her and her own screams, she heard, in a strange, disembodied sort of way, the rush of approaching footsteps, felt someone kneeling at her side, and then a warm hand was on her chest, followed by a burst of pinkish-purple light which vanished as quickly as it had flashed into existence, taking the pain and confusion with it.

Dazedly, Venus pressed a hand to her forehead and sat up. Sailor Saturn was at her side, her violet eyes huge, Silence Glaive lying discarded on the ground beside her.

"Saturn?" she whispered confusedly, as the youngest Scout pulled her to her feet. "I...but -"

"MOON SPIRAL HEART _ATTACK!" _Sailor Moon's cry echoed throughout the night, and both Venus and Saturn inhaled sharply as a spiralling burst of blinding light and hearts erupted out of the Moon Princess' sceptre, hitting Neptune straight in the face, an act that wrenched a strangled cry of indescribable pain from, not the Soldier of the Ocean's lips, but from Uranus', who, it seemed, had beaten Venus to knocking Sailor Moon out of the way of Neptune's Deep Submerge.

"_NEPTUNE!" _she shrieked, stretching out a hand as her cousin slammed into the chain link fence behind her, then slid to the ground in a limp heap. For a split second, the leader of the Outer Scouts stared at the motionless Neptune, her mouth open in a silent scream of horror, then, with unnerving abruptness, her head snapped up and she turned to glare murderously at Sailor Moon, who leapt up from her knees, a blank expression upon her face, twirling her sceptre like a baton.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Uranus screamed, and Serena backed away in fright, and in her haste, she tripped and fell hard onto her back, giving herself up to be a free target-

Without hesitation, Venus and Saturn sprinted forwards and planted themselves in front Sailor Moon, throwing out their arms in attempt to protect her. At that same moment, Sailors Jupiter, Mars and Mercury came sprinting into view; Jupiter elbowed Uranus hard in the side of the head to knock her out of the way, yelling "SAILOR MOON!" while Mars and Mercury seized the falling Outer Scout from behind and held her fast, in case she attempted to retaliate.

There was a moment of tense, absolute silence, then, quite abruptly, it was shattered by a wild gasp from Neptune, whose back was arching until it looked like it would break in half, and from the center of her chest, as though it were attached to an invisible rope, appeared what could only be her soul, a swirling, glowing orb of deepest black, strange, translucent flames rising off its sides, twisting and coiling like serpents.

With a wordless cry, Uranus broke free of Mars and Mercury and flung herself at Neptune's side, where Pluto was standing with her hands cupped several inches beneath the Soldier of the Ocean's pulsating soul.

"Neptune!" Uranus breathed, all traces of anger gone, replaced by an agonized dread. "Neptune, oh gods, say something!"

But Neptune did not respond, lying as still and pale in the dead, her skin looking stretched and waxy in the unnatural glow of her blackened soul. Uranus raised her agonized face to look at Pluto, silently begging her to do something. Pluto stared at her for a moment, the sorrow in her eyes seeming to have increased by tenfold, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Uranus."

"NO!" screamed the Soldier of Sky, an inhumane sorrow upon her face, and she leapt to her feet, seizing the Guardian of Time by the shoulders and giving her a violent shake, as though it would change her cousin's fate. _"NO! _There must be something we can do!"

"You saw what happened to that girl last night," Pluto whispered, her dark red eyes sliding closed, and she turned her head to the side, facing away from Uranus. "There's nothing we can -"

"NO!" wailed Sailor Moon, and she pushed Venus and Saturn out of her way, tripping and stumbling in her haste to reach Neptune's side, twirling her Moon Sceptre above her head and causing it to vanished in a crack of purest white light. _"NO! _MICHELLE, I WON'T LET YOU DIE!"

She collapsed onto her knees at the Soldier of the Ocean's side, her tear streaked face as pale as the moon that shone above her, her over-bright, dark blue eyes staring beseechingly up at Pluto, who did not open her eyes. As though in an act of pity, the Guardian of Time flicked her wrists gracefully, causing Neptune's blackened soul to float downwards, hovering above Sailor Moon's trembling, outstretched hands. Everyone's eyes were locked onto the Moon Princess as she closed her hands around the orb, and, to everyone's astonishment, the moment her silken gloved hands came in contact with it, a tiny explosion of opalline light took place in the space between her hands, and when Serena lowered her hands, Neptune's soul was revealed once more, now shining a pure, sparkling white, and it drifted slowly, almost lazily, back into its owner's chest.

Immediately, colour flooded Neptune's ghostly pale cheeks, and she took several slow, deep breaths before her oceanic blue eyes fluttered open. Uranus gave a strangled cry of relief and snatched the bewildered Neptune up in her arms, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug. For a moment, Venus could have sworn there were tears glistening upon the Soldier of Sky's face, but when she released her cousin her face was as dry as ever. Pulling Neptune to her feet, Uranus looked directly at Serena, who had been pulled upright by a stunned-looking Pluto.

"Thank you," the leader of the Outer Scout's whispered hoarsely, and at her words, Neptune's eyes widened in fear, possibly because her memories of the recent fight were coming to the front of her mind. "For...for..."

"Don't worry about it," Sailor Moon assured her, in a warm tone of voice. "I told you before, it's possible to save the world without sacrifice. I just wish you remembered that last night." She smiled sadly at Uranus, who looked suddenly uncomfortable, as though Serena's gaze had thrown her into a bright spotlight. "It's alright, Uranus; I'm sure you would have done the same for any of us."

Venus did not agree at all with Serena's final sentence, and judging by the way that Mars, Mercury and Jupiter were shaking their heads in disbelief, they were not impressed by their leader's words, either. But Uranus' thanks seemed genuine for, in a rare gesture of appreciation, she clasped hands with Sailor Moon and smiled.

**Hikawa Shrine**

Not long after that, the Sailor Soldiers had regrouped at Mars' shrine, which seemed to have become their meeting place. Venus and Serena wasted no time in telling the others of their afternoon, describing in great detail their encounter with the five men, and then how Neptune, who had been operating under the pretence of normal, had saved, then attacked them. Uranus then explained how she and the other Outer Scouts had ended up at the junkyard in the first place.

"We've been following you," Uranus admitted, leaning against the chair Neptune was sitting in. "Neptune was following you two the moment you left the arcade this afternoon, and Saturn's been keeping tabs on Lita all day. Pluto never actually left this morning, Mars," the Soldier of Sky informed the Soldier of Fire, who looked shocked at this news. "She's been hiding out in the forest all day."

Mars cast a bewildered look at Pluto, who winked at her in amusement.

"Which means you were following me," Mercury noted, and Uranus nodded, but did not speak.

"We don't trust you, you know," Neptune murmured, and a flicker of a smile flashed across her face. "And with good reason. If whoever attacked me had no problem doing so, then – forgive me – they will almost certainly have no problem dealing with any of you."

Venus frowned, exchanging unimpressed looks with Mars and Jupiter, the three of them having always been the most offended at the Outer Scouts' belief that they were superior to them. But she knew that, deep down, what Neptune had said was true.

"You don't remember who attacked you?" Mercury asked, raising her eyebrows, and Neptune shook her head, closing her eyes.

"No," the Soldier of the Ocean murmured, almost apologetically. "I don't. The last thing I remember is running down an alleyway after Venus and Serena, in attempt to make sure you did not enter the junkyard. The seas had grown rough, and I sensed an evil presence lingering about it, though at the time I had no idea it was looking for me." Neptune's eyes slid open, but for once, they were hard, bitter. "I suppose who – or whatever – attacked me, did so from behind. Everything else is blank up until outside the junkyard, when all of you were standing over me. Of course," she added darkly, "We all know who was really behind the attack."

_Genesis._

Their enemy's unspoken name flashed through everyone's mind at that moment, and Sailor Moon shuddered slightly, evidently disturbed. Venus' fists clenched as she thought of the Dark Queen, an act born out of both hatred and fear; there was just no getting over the fact that Genesis was back, and that she had wasted no time in getting revenge upon them.

"So," Uranus said, her low, almost masculine voice musing, far away. "Genesis is back, and, for whatever reason, after Neptune." On the last word, her hand, which had been resting upon her cousin's shoulder, tightened briefly, and the Soldier of the Ocean looked up at her, fear flashing across her face.

"Or she could be out to hurt Uranus," Jupiter offered, and Venus looked up sharply, this point of view having not occurred to her. "Genesis isn't stupid, she's probably seen the bond you two share, and taking out Neptune is basically like taking out half of you." She cast Uranus an almost apologetic look, but the Outer Scout did not look up from gazing at Neptune, her face quite expressionless.

"Look," Venus burst out suddenly, and every eye flickered to her face. "Whatever Genesis' motives, it doesn't change the fact that she's returned." She stepped forwards very slowly, so that she was in the center of the group and, taking a deep breath, burst into speech once more, voicing that which she had been aching to say for the gods-only-knew how long.

"In the past, our enemies' goals have always been the same; Beryl, the Dark Moon Clan, Nehellenia, they were all after world domination. But when we battled each of them, we remained in our separate groups, Inner and Outer Scouts, refusing to work together even in the face of mortal peril. Only Professor Tomoe -" Saturn shifted uncomfortably at the mention of her father. "and the Death Busters were different, aiming for the destruction of all that we knew. But even though they were probably the most powerful organization, we still managed to defeat them, and we _still _stayed in our separate groups.

"But this time, it's different," Venus looked particularly hard at Uranus, who was staring at her with an odd expression on her face, something almost like awe. "This time we're facing the _destruction of our galaxy. _Genesis is probably more powerful than everyone we've faced before put together, and she's only gonna get stronger the longer we delay meeting her. We've already had two shots at fighting her, and in both cases we failed to defeat her. And you know why that is? Because in both cases, we stuck to our separate groups.

"All of our planets have been reduced to barren wastelands, all of the planets except for Earth. But if Genesis succeeds, life will be wiped clean from its surface, too. If we want to avenge our planets, avenge _Serenity, _then we're going to have to defeat her, not as the Inner and Outer Scouts, but as the Sailor Soldiers! Now who's with me?"

There was a beat of absolute silence, and then –

"I'm all for it!" Sailor Moon cried, crossing the distance between them and extending her hand, face shining with happiness. Venus hesitated for a moment, then placed her hand on top of Serena's, smiling hugely.

"So am I." Mars declared, putting her hand on top of Venus'.

"Me too."

"You got it."

Jupiter and Mercury ran forwards and added their hands to the pile, followed almost instantly – albeit silently – by Saturn. Venus cast her gaze towards Neptune and Uranus, the latter still staring at Venus with that same awed expression on her face and then, almost unbelievably, the two of them stepped forwards and placed their hands on top of Mercury's, smiling slightly.

"Pluto?" Serena asked suddenly, and Venus looked around sharply, her gaze alighting instantly upon the final Scout. The Guardian of Time was standing perfectly still, her eyes huge with horror, her mouth open in a silent scream, staring transfixed at something she alone could see, her Garnet Rod trembling in her white gloved hand.

"Pluto!" Uranus exclaimed, breaking free of the group and running towards the Outer Scout, snapping her fingers sharply in front of her face. "What's wrong? Pluto, _answer m-_"

"T...The..."Pluto choked out, her soft, mysterious voice drowning in panic. "Th-the..."

And, with alarming abruptness, Pluto's eyes snapped back into focus, blazing with fury, and with a savage cry of both outrage and determination, the Guardian of Time spun her staff above her head and rammed it down upon the ground before her, causing a gong-like boom to rent the air apart, and a ring of blood red light exploded off of her Garnet Orb, tearing through the room at a speed sound could not hope to outstrip. Suddenly, they were no longer standing in Hikawa Shrine, but upon an endless, barren plain covered in thick, almost opaque white mist, the sky above them a miserable, blank grey, devoid of temperature, sun, moon and stars.

Limbo.

Venus staggered forwards, overwhelmed at this abrupt change in their surroundings, but Mars threw out her arm to prevent her from falling, and with good reason; Sailor Pluto was sprinting away from their group, long jade hair flying out behind her in the chaotic winds of time that howled their displeasure at her appearance, ripping their way out of the massive set of white marble doors that stood some fifty feet away from them, inscribe with strange letters and symbols that Venus could not understand. The Space-Time had been flung open, revealing a mass of blinding, endless pink light, and, to the Sailor Soldiers' collective horror, they saw a hundred translucent Genesis, oddly warped and twisted, twisting and writhing inside the Door's depths, cackling insanely and lashing out at the Guardian of Time with clawed fingers.

"Sailor Pluto!" cackled the voice of the Dark Queen, magnified to a hundred times its usual volume, twisted, warped and echoing throughout the plain, and to Venus' horror, a pair of massive, slanting, blood red eyes, Genesis' eyes, opened inside the Space-Time Door, glittering with inhumane malice. "It's an honour to see you again! But why so angry? You had no problem with me dwelling inside this door when you attempted to seal me away forever!"

"SHUT _UP!" _screamed Pluto, skidding to a halt some twenty feet away from the Space-Time Door. "PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!"

The Guardian of Time slashed her Garnet Rod through the air and instantly disappeared by a mass of glittering, opaque silver wind, whose howling was equal to that of the Space-Time Door's, and, after a split second, the winds were blasted apart by a massive orb of glowing purple light, exploding into existence with an uneartheal scream, twisting and spiralling as it rocketed towards the Space-Time Door at an impossible speed-

Genesis let out a piercing, agonized scream not unlike the one she had uttered when she had been hit by Venus', Mars' and Mercury's Sailor Attack, her massive eyes widening to an insane size, etched with both agony and outrage. Suddenly, Uranus broke free of the group of stunned Sailor Soldiers, sprinting forwards as fast as the wind, the air hissing in her wake, screaming, "PLUTO, LOOK _OUT!"_

For a split second later, the Dark Queen emitted an ear-splitting shriek, her blood red eyes flaming with indescribable outrage, and massive hand composed solely of blinding pink light lashed out from the depths of the Space-Time Door, moving so fast it left an image of itself in its place, burning a vast pink streak in Venus' line of vision, stretched impossibly wide, reaching for the paralyzed Pluto-

It was very lucky Uranus was as fast as she was, for she reached the Guardian of Time's side in less than four seconds, pushing her roughly aside just as the massive, flaming pink hand that had emerged from the abyss' depths would have reached her, seized Uranus, and dragged her back inside.

"NO!" screamed Neptune and Serena, their voices cracked with horrified denial, and they both sprinted forwards, but Venus lunged forwards in a spectacular dive and, seizing Sailor Moon's legs, tackled her to the ground, while it took the combined efforts of Mercury, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter to restrain Neptune. Pluto, meanwhile, had sprung to her feet and raised her staff, a look of cold determination upon her face. Dozens of large bubbles composed of multicoloured light burst out of her Garnet Orb, each one appearing with a gong-like boom, and they sprinted forwards, perfectly choreographed, ramming themselves into each of the massive locks on the Space-Time Door. There was a deafening _BOOM! _And suddenly, the doors had slammed shut, looking for all the world like a harmless construction of marble.

"NOOO!" screamed Neptune, and it was a miracle she was making any sound at all, so hard was she sobbing. "WHAT DID YOU DO? PLUTO, YOU IDIOT! _AMARA! _NO! COME BACK! _AMARA!"_

"She can't," Pluto murmured, so quietly Venus barely heard her. The Guardian of Time turned away from the Space-Time Door to stare at them, no longer a cold, callous Outer Scout, but a caring, feeling friend, her face drawn with pain, and the sadness that haunted her eyes seemed to have deepened.

"She can't come back?" Mercury asked in bewilderment, now lying on top of Neptune's back in an effort to restrain her. "Why not?"

"I've sealed the Space-Time Door," Pluto whispered, closing her eyes and turning her face to the side, trying and failing to hide her tears. "It won't reopen until Genesis is gone. She's trapped in limbo right now, with Uranus, and unless she wishes to remain there forever, she'll be forced to return to her own time."

"So there's nothing we can do for Uranus?" Sailor Moon whispered, her voice choked with shock and sorrow, and she stopped struggling from beneath Venus, prompting the Soldier of Love to release her, pull her to her feet and envelope her in a tight hug.

Pluto opened her eyes, which were now tear-free, but they looked hollow, dead, as though a certain light behind them had gone out. She shook her head wordlessly, lips pressed tight together, and an agonized sob was wrenched from Neptune's lips before the Soldier of the Ocean collapsed to the ground, seas of despair crashing down upon them all.


	9. Horror! Genesis Drags Two into Shadows!

Sailor Uranus had found herself in countless confusion situations before, but the place she found herself right now definitely qualified as the most bizarre. She had the fleeting impression of moving backwards at an impossibly fast rate, accompanied by flashes of multicoloured light and a deafening, screaming wind so shrill it made her head ache. For a split second that was stretched into an eternity, the only solid thing in her world was the iron grip of the monstrous, flaming pink hand that had seized her, crushing her from the ribs down.

And then, quite abruptly, everything, even the hand, was gone, depositing her alone in what seemed to be a swelteringly hot jungle, and nearby stood an abandoned stone temple that was crumbling before her very eyes. Hoots and beastly roars sounded from every direction, uttered by hundreds of animals that were lost in the dense green vegetation. The sun was hot on the back of her neck, the air was thick and sticky from the humidity-

If Uranus didn't know any better, she would have sworn she was still on Earth.

But a cold, cruel voice shattered all pretence of reality, and Uranus' skin crawled with each syllable that rolled off the invisible speaker's tongue.

"Sailor Uranus," the voice murmured, impossibly cold and indescribably merciless, more venomous than a viper and yet, somehow, feminine. "How do you like my little jungle?"

Uranus did not respond to Genesis – who else could it have been? – for she knew it would only amuse her. Her eyes darted around, searching for a sign of approaching danger, for the Dark Queen's cruel red eyes...

"Ah," Genesis' voice mocked sorrow. "I take it you don't like it. A shame, really. Well...you could always -" there was a flash of white light up ahead, and suddenly, an ancient stone archway was sitting ten yards away from her, revealing a blissfully cool looking forest, situated beside a sparkling blue lake. "-leave."

For a split second of absolute madness, Uranus considered entering. But then, the moment was gone, and her common sense kicked in; Genesis hated her. She would not simply give her an escape route. The Soldier of Sky turned her back on the archway but then, no sooner had she done so and so faintly that she barely heard it, she heard Neptune cry out, "Uranus, where are you?

With a sharp intake of breath, Uranus whirled around, her dark blue eyes huge as she gazed into the depths of the archway with panicked interest. She could not see Neptune, but she was certain her cousin had spoken from inside the newly-appeared archway. As if to strengthen her beliefs, she heard her cousin's pleading cry once more, clawing at her ears and heart. "I can't see you, Uranus! Help me!"

"Neptune?" she whispered, taking a hesitant step forwards. But then, quite abruptly, the wind picked up and blew hard in the opposite direction, willing her away from the archway. Uranus' eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously, as if to rid herself of a lingering nightmare. Her confusion turned to rage as she saw the cool forest illusion inside the archway morph into a swirling black abyss, promising naught but agony.

"_STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!" _Uranus shouted, throwing her face up to the cloudless sky. Genesis' icy, disembodied laughter emanated from all around her, mocking her, as though there were a thousand invisible Dark Queens lingering about her.

"Fool!" cried the Dark Queen. "You would have been the first of the Ambassadors of Good to fall to my cause!"

Uranus' heart skipped a beat. _Ambassadors of Good? _she thought, bewildered. "What are you talking about?" she shouted at the sky, while her heart drummed a tattoo onto the insides of her skull, panic threatening to overwhelm her. Genesis' bone-chilling laughter sounded from all around her, jubilant at her confusion.

"You'll know soon enough," she simpered cryptically, and Uranus could almost see her slanting red eyes flashing with delight. "Everyone will." And suddenly, in an act that seemed to suck all the air from the world, eleven women had appeared around her, enclosing the Soldier of Sky and the ancient archway in a wide circle. They all had oceanic blue skin and long, tangled dark red hair that fell in matted waves about their faces, scantily clad in rough brown animal skins and marked with tribal lines along their cheeks and limbs, giving them strange, cat-like qualities about them. Each wielded lethal-looking wooden bows and arrows, and the hatred in the pupilless jade eyes was so powerful that Uranus had to fight not to back away.

Genesis' words left the Soldier of Sky's mind as she slid into a half-crouch, her fists clenched. She was not going to be killed by a bunch of disposably inept daemons. She couldn't. But as she glared into the high-cheek boned faces of the women around her, she found that there was no room for fear in her heart. Genesis had forced her into doing what she was born to do; fighting.

Raising one hand above her head, Uranus narrowed her eyes to slits, anger coursing through her like white-hot venom in her blood stream, and clenched her fist around the orb of blinding topaz light that appeared there, shouting, "URANUS WORLD _SHAKING!"_

Her enemies' ferocious expressions flickered upon their faces as a deafening _BOOM! _rent the air apart as she slammed her hand down towards the ground, releasing an orb of cackling topaz light that was ten times the size of its original version; the sphere of light disappeared into the ground and rocketed forwards, ripping a huge gorge in the earth between herself and the demons, screaming its fury-

The women let out ear-splitting shrieks of agony as her attack slammed into them, but the roar of her World Shaking drowned them out; a flash of yellow light rent the world apart, blasting five of the demons into immediate non-existence, while three of them were sent flying in every direction, twisting and writhing in agony, skidding to a halt some twenty feet away. Uranus remained in place long enough only to make sure that her attack was rocketing in the right direction; with a snarl, she turned on her heel and sprinted away from her World Shaking, its roar screaming in her ears, a ferocious wind sending her on her way a little faster. She leap-frogged the one of the three remaining demons nearest her, who looked completely shell-shocked at the power she had just displayed, and sprinted towards the wall of vegetation before her, moving so fast her limbs appeared blurred.

But even as the roar of her World Shaking died away, allowing her enemies' feral shrieks of outrage to be heard, she knew that she was safe; she was as fast as the wind and more powerful than all those stupid demons combined, and was just as enduring as Serena's everlasting hope. If Genesis wanted an 'Ambassador of Good', she would have to catch her first.

**Hikawa Shrine**

For three days, the Sailor Soldiers sat in disbelieving silence, slumped in varying degrees of shock inside Mars' grandfather's shrine. The memory of Genesis dragging Uranus into the Space-Time Door, the Dark Queen's maniacal laughter and Neptune's cry of agony at her cousin's disappearance were ringing through Venus' deadened mind, playing over and over as if on a tape. They knew not whether it was day or night, all of them trapped in some sort of horrified stupor that none of them had any hope of breaking through.

Sailor Pluto stood motionless in the doorway, shrouded in shadows, not eating, not talking, her Garnet Orb glowing brightly at her side, and she spent most of her time muttering to herself in a strange language Venus could not understand. In a strange, disembodied sort of way, she knew that the Guardian of Time must be looking through time and space, searching for Uranus.

Hotaru, Serena and Michelle sat huddled in the corner of the room. The three of them were clearly the hardest hit by Uranus' abduction, but none more so than the latter, who alternated between hysterical sobbing and impossible shock. The loss of Uranus, it seemed, was too much for the Soldier of the Ocean, her mind frame seemed to have been completely shattered, desire to fight back completely extinguished. Venus could not help but dwell upon Jupiter's suggestion of Genesis' motives, which seemed to have been spoken an eternity ago; taking out either Uranus or Neptune would be like taking out half of whoever she left behind.

Hotaru and Serena retained more composure than her, but only slightly.

Rei, for reasons best known to herself, had locked herself in her room, dressed in her miko robes, the choking smell of incense and thick smoke emanating into the place where they were huddled. They could hear her chanting something along the lines of "Mars is fire and fire is light; grant me the strength and gift of sight". Venus could only assume that she, like Pluto, was using her strange gift of prophetic sight to look out for Uranus.

Meanwhile, she, Jupiter and Mercury were standing in silence, slumped against the wall. Though they were by no means glad at Uranus' abduction, they were not sobbing over her disappearance, for they could not forget the Soldier of Sky's contempt, sometimes bordering on hatred, of them, her reluctance to work together...

But there was no denying it; Uranus was a superb fighter, the strongest, most persevering of the Sailor Soldiers, and though her style was somewhat different from that of the Inner Scouts, she could always be counted on to fight until the end. Her plans were capable of rivalling even Mercury's, and she was the leader of the Outer Scouts, a source of guidance and hope for Neptune, Saturn and Pluto, who seemed to have lost their heart.

_They should be rallying around Serena, _Venus reflected, her hollow gaze resting upon the motionless Outer Scouts. _But she's nearly as badly off as Neptune is._

Venus knew that, in the event of Sailor Moon's rare absence, she was the leader of the Inner Scouts and, in the time of the Moon Kingdom, when Serena had been princess, she had always been leader. In a small corner of her brain, Venus knew that she should have been standing up, attempting to rally the remaining Sailor Soldiers, but she felt as though she may as well been asking herself to take Genesis on by herself, for right now, she was in no condition to lead. She did not feel like a leader; nearly catatonic, Minas could barely summon the strength to go to the bathroom, let alone organize a retaliation.

So there they sat, not eating, not talking, simply _existing, _not caring if it was day or night. Sometimes Mina slept, praying for a prophecy, no matter how terrible, but one did not come. It seemed that, in her time of greatest need, her sight had abandoned her.

And then, after an eternity of silence-

"ARGH!" It was Rei, her scream of surprise renting through the air like a bomb. As if this was the signal everyone had been waiting for, everyone leapt to their feet, whipping out their senshipens.

"VENUS STAR POWER!"

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER!"

"MOON COSMIC POWER!"

"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!"

"PLUTO PLANET POWER!"

"SATURN PLANET POWER!"

Sailor Moon led the Sailor Soldiers in a desperate sprint out of the room, sliding the paper-thin door out of her way and sprinting along the porch, practically ramming through the wall that separated them from Rei, who they knew to be the one who screamed.

"What's wrong?" cried Jupiter, skidding to a halt some two feet away from the miko. Rei's face was shining with sweat, her dark eyes huge with horror, her chest was heaving as though she had just run a marathon and the light of her fire was reflecting oddly off her face, making her look ghostly pale.

"The...city," she croaked, her voice a hoarse whisper. She shuddered violently, looking as though she were on the verge of fainting. "I-It's doomed!"

"Are you sure, Rei?" Sailor Moon whispered, her voice quite as hoarse as the miko's. She ran forwards and grabbed a hold of her arm, for she was swaying violently, looking to be on the verge of fainting.

Rei looked up at Serena, an agonized expression upon her face, dark eyes glinting strangely in the firelight, and nodded slowly. Then two things happened at once.

Rei sank into a dead faint, and Serena cried out in alarm, catching her before she could fall. At the same time, an explosion of supernova proportions took place behind them, so that Venus' eardrums popped, so forceful that everyone was thrown back against the wood-panelled walls, agony ripping through them, while windows shattered and trees were broken in half with ear-splitting cracks.

"_NO!" _screamed Sailor Moon, and then, quite abruptly, a ring of red light exploded throughout the room, so that suddenly, impossibly, everyone but Rei was standing in the main room again, all pain gone, but it was replaced by an overwhelming confusion and sense of déjà-vu. Disoriented, Venus staggered into Jupiter, who caught her with a trembling arm. In an almost comical unison, everyone turned to look at Sailor Moon, their eyes huge with shock.

"I...I..." spluttered Serena, looking as shocked as if she had just moved the moon. "What...what h-happened?"

"I sent us back in time," Pluto whispered, her soft voice ringing with urgency, loaded with fear. At her words, everyone whipped around to look at her, their confusion melting away as they linked the ring of red light to her glowing Garnet Orb. Too awed to speak, everyone simply stared at her, and Pluto spun her staff around her head, holding it diagonally across her body, dark red eyes boring into each of theirs in turn.

"In eight minutes, Genesis will attack the city again, and then no one will be safe. She'll have the souls of more than twelve million people to sustain her, and that's something we can't afford to give her."

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then-

"How in the name of Queen Serenity are we supposed to stop her?" Saturn whispered, sounding mortified.

"With Sailor Box." Venus announced firmly, and everyone looked at her questioningly, except Mercury, whose face split into a smile. "It's how we stopped her assaults on the city before, and that was only with three of us."

"Bravo," Neptune murmured, a slight smile appearing on her face as she nodded appreciatively.

"Wait – what about Rei?" Serena cried, looking from Soldier to Soldier with a terrified expression on her face, but Jupiter shook her head.

"She'll have to stay here. It's almost impossible to wake her up from a trance."

"Seven is still a strong number, Sailor Moon," Venus assured her. "We'll be ok." _I hope, _she added mentally.

She knew that her last sentence was not exactly true, and she could tell by the looks on Mercury's and Saturn's faces that they did not believe her words, either. Nevertheless, at Jupiter's cry of, "Let's go!" they all sprinted from the room, their minds racing as fast as their legs were carrying them as the desperation of what they were trying to achieve sunk in. Instead of attempting to navigate the massive staircase leading up to Hikawa Shrine, they slid backwards down the railing, hearts pounding in their ears.

_What if we don't save the city? _Venus demanded of herself, turning a backwards somersault as she rocketed off the end of the railing, refusing to break stride as she sprinted after the rest of the Scouts. _Will there be anything left? Will _we _be left?_

_Don't think like that, _Jupiter broadcast angrily, throwing a significant look over her shoulder at her, clearly having been listening in on her thoughts. _We've got a head start this time. Genesis won't be getting any more souls._

"We need to split up," Mercury cried as they reached an intersection in the surprisingly deserted streets. "We've got to reach the city center as fast as possible to be able to contain the explosion."

"What if we're seen?" Venus demanded, sprinting a little fast so as to reach Mercury's side.

"It doesn't matter," Pluto murmured. "Unless we're quick, no one will ever see anything ever again."

With Pluto's ominous words in mind, everyone divided into pairs; Jupiter and Neptune sprinted down a nearby alleyway, while Mercury and Serena continued down the main road. Venus' eyes widened slightly, realizing that there was an uneven number of Soldiers left.

"Go with Saturn," Pluto murmured abruptly, and Venus threw a startled look over her shoulder at the Guardian of Time.

"But -" she began, but Pluto cut her off.

"I am more than capable of taking a corner on by myself," she murmured, a little snappishly. "Please, just go!"

Venus nodded once, clasping hands briefly with the Guardian of Time, then she and Saturn tore off down a nearby alleyway, while Pluto veered hard left.

"This way," Saturn panted, leaping abnormally high into the air and kicking hard off the brick wall behind her in a powerful wall jump. Venus grunted in assent and then leapt after her, turning a sharp somersault as she pushed hard off the wall behind her, pulling out just in time to force herself away from the wall in front of her and then somersaulting once more as she cleared the two buildings. By the time she landed heavily on her feet on top of the building, Saturn was already in the act of flinging herself off it, looking oddly cat-like as she soared through the air. Slightly annoyed, Venus sprinted after her, speed-induced winds clawing icy fingers through her hair as she moved. Déjà-vu threatened to overwhelm her as she flung herself off the edge of the building, and for a split second, the illusion of the chase sequence that had ensued after she, Mars and Mercury had encountered Equinox and Solstice swum before her eyes.

_If only it were that dangerous, _Venus thought, smiling humourlessly as she contemplated the differences in seriousness in the two situations.

Several agonizing minutes passed and then-

"Stop!" Saturn cried suddenly, digging her navy blue boots into the ground in order to skid to a halt. Venus froze, tensing automatically, half-expecting Genesis to appear in front of them. "This is the place!"

"Are you sure?" Venus breathed shrewdly, resting her hands on her knees, breath coming in short gasps. Saturn nodded once, her dark violet eyes displaying no trace of indecision.

Without responding, Venus took two steps forward and let herself walk out into open air, the howl of rushing winds screaming in her ears as she plummeted downwards. Turning a somersault, Venus landed lightly on her feet, straightening upright just as Saturn dropped silently onto the ground beside her.

Saturn paused for a split second, then dashed forwards, Silence Glaive held diagonally across her body as she slipped into a narrow alleyway. Venus growled softly, annoyed at Saturn's cryptic manner, but nevertheless sprinted after her, easily catching up to the youngest Scout, who had stopped just outside the mouth of the alleyway, revealing their new position to be at the heart of the business district of the city.

_Sailor Venus, in position! _she broadcast to her fellow Soldiers, walking over to join Saturn.

_Sailor Saturn, in position! _Saturn joined her left hand with Venus' right, and they threw their free arms out, creating thicker, shimmering beams of gold and violet respectively. For a moment, they stood there, then-

_Sailor Pluto, in position! _Pluto's mental declaration echoed throughout Venus' mind as though it were her own, and a beam of glittering onyx black light joined the end of her gold one.

_Sailor Jupiter, in position!_

_Sailor Neptune, in position!_ Their beams did not join Saturn's, presumably because they were diagonally across from them.

_Sailor Mercury, in position!_

_Sailor Moon, in position! _Serena's beam of pure white light, glittering with rainbow sparkles, joined with Saturn's, and suddenly, Venus' mind was teeming with hundreds of thoughts, memories and feelings that were not her own; Sailor Moon's anxiety, Jupiter's expectancy, Neptune's fierce desire for vengeance, Mercury's nervousness, Pluto's calmness and Saturn's determination.

The street was deserted, despite being one of the most major in all of Tokyo; office buildings towered on all sides of them, shops' display cases glittered in the street lamps' light. Cars sat parked on the side of the road, but there were no people, almost as if they had been warned of the coming calamity and had attempted to take shelter.

Directly across from them, a traffic light was changing from green to yellow and then, just before it could turn red, the moment everyone had been so desperately waiting for arrived. The air was rent apart by a terrible, deafening wall of noise that was a fatal explosion, a purplish-black sphere that changed from non-existent to a hundred meters wide in less than a second. Glass shattered, buildings crumbled, chaotic, otherworldly winds were screaming in her ears, and the blinding light from the orb blinded the Soldier of Light, so that she was overwhelmed when she felt the orb pressing against her. She gave a cry of alarm when she felt how strong it was, and her smoky gold shield erupted around her in attempt to give her extra protection. And yet, she felt like a fly faced with a black hole, powerless against its impossible strength.

But she resisted, her teeth grinding together, clenching Saturn's hand so hard she was surprised the Messiah of Silence did not pull away. The blinding brightness of the orb filled her entire world, and she felt it straining against the feeble power of their Box, the strength required to continue expanding filling its depths, trapped, screaming for release.

_Focus, Serena! _Mercury screamed in terror, and Serena clumsily attempted to repair her shattered concentration.

From beside her, Saturn's concentration increased by tenfold, while her grip on Venus' hand slackened. Venus turned her head to the side, throwing her partner a terrified look, and saw that the Messiah of Silence had raised her Silence Glaive above her head, a look of furious concentration upon her face, and somehow, over the deafening mass of noise, she heard her shout, "SILENCE WALL!"

From the edge of her Glaive burst a sphere of jagged, criss-crossing onyx lines of energy which expanded to shield Venus from Genesis' orb. Once surrounded by energy, Venus felt an iron-clad protection on all sides of her, easing the strain on her and allowing her to increase the amount of energy she put into maintaining the thin line of light, a trembling band that was all that separated Tokyo from destruction-

And suddenly, a rage that was not her own filled her, so complete, so powerful that the edges of her vision turned blood red, and Neptune screamed out, _URANUS, I'M COMING!_

_What? _Mercury shrieked, utterly bewildered.

_JUPITER, _STOP HER! Pluto yelled in dismay.

_Neptune, what the hell are you doing? _Jupiter bellowed, and suddenly, both Soldiers' consciousness vanished from alongside Venus', and with their absences came an onslaught of raw force that snapped her resistance like a twig. Saturn's Silence Wall exploded in a burst of noise and they were both forced backwards, their beams of light vanishing in golden and violet mists. Venus, exhausted and terrified though she was, knew she had only one chance-

"_VENUS METEOR STRIKE!" _she shouted, and from her outstretched hand burst five massive golden disks that tore towards the orb's rapidly expanding surface-

But before they reached it, the violet-black mass suddenly, inexplicably vanished, and her Meteor Strike disappeared with it. Venus let out a strangled cry of confusion, only half-conscious, and fell to her knees, too weak to stand. Saturn dropped her Silence Glaive with a clatter and knelt down beside her, shaking her violently, shouting words Venus' exhausted brain did not comprehend, pulling on her arm in a failed attempt to pull her to her feet.

Then there was a flash of purple, and her strength was replenished, thanks to Saturn's strange ability to heal injuries. With a shake of her head, Venus staggered upright, and turned to thank Saturn, but her words died in her throat.

Genesis was standing before them, holographic and flickering, but Genesis all the same. Her painted red lips were curved into a superior smile, and her slanting ruby eyes were glinting with icy pleasure.

"Sailor Soldiers," her voice sounded slightly tinny, but it retained the ability to turn her blood cold. "How kind of you to send two more your number to my cause. Preserve the feelings you are experiencing right now. Fear and hopelessness will soon be all that you know." And then, in a flash of lime green light, Genesis vanished.

"Neptune!" Saturn screamed, running towards the spot the holograph had disappeared from and falling to her knees, pounding the ground with her fists. "Jupiter!"

Venus, mustering all her willpower, forced herself forwards, not for her sake, but for Saturn's. It was a thousand times harder to take each step than it had been to resist the orb, for with each one came a mass of agony, burning white-hot in her veins in the place of blood, a sense of unshakable loss.

"Saturn," she whispered, shaking her shoulder. "We have to go."

But her voice lacked conviction, her shakes soon died away, and Saturn continued to sob silently on the ground, pounding the cement with her fists. Venus let her hand drop as her own sorrow consumed her; Jupiter was gone, trying to stop Neptune from recklessly pursuing Uranus. Three had gone, six to go, and at this rate, the Sailor Soldiers would be no more come the dawn after next.

_There's no proof that they're dead, _Venus told herself, relentless in her quest to be eternally hopeful. _They entered willingly, like you and Mars did when you went after Mercury. They'll be conscious. _A spark of hope flickered inside her, banishing some of the numbness. _Jupiter's strong. Neptune will be driven by her desire to find Amara, and Uranus is stronger than both of them put together. They'll be alright._

The sound of approaching footsteps tore Venus away from her thoughts, and at that moment, an inferno of hope blossomed in her chest, giving her the strength to lift her head. Pluto was approaching, each of her strides equal to three of her own.

Drawing strength from her newly rekindled hope, she pulled Saturn to her feet. She could not allow the flame in her chest to go out again. Her sanity – and survival – depended on it.

Jupiter was furious with herself.

For one thing, she had not stopped Neptune from running into the orb. For another, she had been stupid enough to follow. And most importantly, they had no idea where this swirling, multicoloured vortex would deposit them.

_Are you happy now, Neptune? _Jupiter thought murderously, kicking the insubstantial air before her in fury. _Do you think that by dragging us to the same pit of Hades your cousin's in will help us save her?_

A sudden flash of white light drowned out the sea of colour, and she instinctively grasped Neptune's arm in fear, but released it almost immediately, remembering that whatever awaited them had been brought upon them by the Soldier of the Ocean's foolishness. As quickly as it had come, the light dispersed, and they found themselves standing in what looked like an underground tunnel. The air felt sticky and uncomfortably hot, a strangely stale smell lingering about it. The light was dim and did not, apparently, have a source.

"You okay?" Jupiter asked roughly, throwing a sharp glance at Neptune, who nodded once but did not speak. Jupiter grunted once and folded her arms across her chest and turned away from her companion, her narrowed jade eyes roving around their new surroundings, while anger boiled up inside her, threatening to explode out of her with less than a second's notice.

"Jupiter," Neptune whispered, and under normal circumstances, she would have been alarmed at the way her voice shook with sorrow. "I-"

"NO!" Jupiter shouted, spinning around to face Neptune, practically spitting fire with rage, her face inches from Neptune's shocked one. "YOU KNOW WHAT NEPTUNE? NO! DON'T SPEAK! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT WE'RE IN THE MESS!"

"I-"

"_NO!" _Jupiter screamed, demented with rage, and she seized the Soldier of the Ocean roughly by the shoulders. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, NEPTUNE! YOU DELUDED YOURSELF INTO THINKING THAT YOU COULD SAVE URANUS BY RUNNING INTO THAT...THAT _ORB, _BUT YOU'VE ONLY DOOMED ALL THREE OF US!"

"Please-"

"YOU DON'T GET IT, DO YOU?" bawled Jupiter, moving her face so close to Neptune's that their noses were almost touching, clenching her shoulders so hard she actually felt the bones creak. "WE'RE NEVER GOING TO SEE SERENA OR VENUS OR PLUTO OR ANY OF THE OTHERS EVER AGAIN! WE'RE _DOOMED, _NEPTUNE!"

Her voice broke on the last word, and quite abruptly, her anger morphed into sorrow, sadness so absolute that she fell to her knees, her last sentence ringing throughout her agonized mind. _We're doomed, Neptune. _Burning tears trickled down her cheeks, her breath came in short, shuddering bursts, and she dug her knuckles into the unforgiving stone ground beneath her, relishing in the pain that shot up her arms, for the fact that she could _feel _it, when she may very soon never feel anything every again, made her feel more alive than she had in days.

"Jupiter," whispered Neptune, crouching down beside her, but the Soldier of Lightning was too consumed by sorrow to tell her to get away from her. "Do you really think I'm _enjoying _this? Do you think I wanted to tear you away from the Guardian Soldiers, when you had only so recently been reunited?"

Neptune's voice broke on the last word, but she tilted Jupiter's chin up so as to force her to face her, and through her tears, Jupiter discovered that her companion's face, like her own, was streaked with salt water, oceanic blue eyes haunted by a sadness that was not unlike the one present in Pluto's.

"It all became...to m-much," whispered the Outer Scout, clenching her eyes shut, hand trembling beneath her chin. "I c-couldn't stand to think that Uranus...was alone...while we were all united, no m-matter how d...dire our situation was. I am so sorry, indescribably so, that I dragged you along with me to this accursed place. For all the sorrow that I've caused you...for all the sorrow I'm about to cause you -"

"It's okay," Jupiter interrupted her, and though her voice quivered with sadness, her gaze was steady, boring meaningfully into Neptune's half-opened eyes. "And I mean it. Sailor Uranus meant – _means – _a lot to you. I'd feel the same way. I _do _feel the same way." She took a deep, shuddering breath, then forced herself to her feet, dragging Neptune up with her. "It's not your fault at all, Neptune. I was being stupid. What's done is done, and being angry won't change the facts. We woulda ended up here at some point, anyway."

Neptune blinked surprisedly at her abrupt change in mind frame, but then her face split into a grateful smile. Jupiter returned it, then clasped hands with her companion, saying, We're allies now, whether you like it or not."

Neptune laughed. "What's not to like about it?"

They stood there for a moment, hands still clasped, all enmity forgotten, until a harsh voice shattered the amicable silence. "Sailor Neptune!" cackled the voice, a voice like shattered glass and colder than ice, yet somehow, female. "Sailor Jupiter. Welcome to your doom."

"Genesis!" Neptune hissed fiercely, tensing like a cat about to spring. "Where's Sailor Uranus?"

Genesis merely laughed, and the sound of it sent shudders running down Jupiter's spine. "Beyond your help," she spat, but the Inner Scout detected a bluff in the Dark Queen's remark. "I'd be much more concerned about your own lives, if I were you."

Jupiter snorted in disbelief. "If you were me, then I'd be you. And if I were you, I'd start running. Now."

"Like you care about our lives!" Neptune snarled, her hands curling into fists as she glared about for the source of Genesis' voice.

"But I do," Genesis murmured silkily. "More than you know. You could join me, if you'd like. There's nothing I'd like more than for us to work together." The blackness on their right became white, and a whiff of fresh air hit Jupiter like a punch to the face.

"Stop playing games," Neptune snarled, a spasm of rage running through her form, and Genesis simpered.

"As you wish. See you in hell, Sailor Soldiers."

An icy silence fell upon them, and Neptune sprang out of her half-crouch, pulling a golden, bejewelled mirror out of nowhere. Jupiter's breath caught in her chest. "The Galactical Mirror?" she whispered, but Neptune shook her head.

"No," she murmured, gazing intently into its ovalesque face, tilting it almost unconsciously to the left, and Jupiter saw that the mirror was, in fact, Neptune's talisman, the Deep Aqua Mirror. "But it's nearly as useful. Aha." She looked up sharply, glaring at the path Genesis had indicated. "Danger to the right. There was no way she'd give us an easy way out."

An inhumane chorus of growls sounded from the shadows behind them and Jupiter whirled around, her hand flying to her throat. Several pairs of slanting red eyes glowed from the darkness, foreboding and unblinking, the strength of the low rumbling growing louder as more pairs of eyes opened.

"And just as much danger to the left," Jupiter muttered, tensing into a half-crouch, preparing to fight.

Slowly, the red eyes grew larger, and a pack of snarling dogs emerged from the shadows, their heads level with Jupiter's stomach, their fur matted and muddy brown. They were larger than any she had ever laid eyes on before, thickly muscled from the neck down, their snapping jaws and sharp yellow teeth looking more than capable of crushing bones.

As the first dog lunged, Jupiter and Neptune leapt into action. "JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!" she shouted, making the sign of love with both hands, and out of the emerald fixed upon her tiara burst a mass of cackling green lightning, assuming the shape of a gargantuan roaring dragon that ripped through the tunnel, which was suddenly ablaze with light, opening its massive jaws and snapping them shut upon the unfortunate hound, along with four of its fellows. With yelps of pain, the dogs fell out of the air and collapsed upon the ground, before dissolving into wisping black smoke.

Neptune, meanwhile, extended her palm and cried, "NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!" and she disappeared behind a wall of roaring, opaque blue water, which curved and compressed into a sphere of swirling blue, shooting lightning fast towards the remaining dogs, who were helpless against the captured power of the ocean. In a burst of blue light, the tunnel was full of choking black smoke.

"Nice word!" Jupiter commented, impressed, and Neptune merely nodded to acknowledge her comment.

"Let's go!" she cried, sprinting forwards, her turquoise hair flying out behind her. Jupiter followed, her footfalls splattering the rocky falls with mud, and they had soon left the bright white light that marked Genesis' trap far behind them. They did not speak as they moved along the narrow passageway, for no matter how lightly they stepped, their footsteps echoed off the close-set walls, masking the sounds of possible enemies tracking them and acting as more than enough of a giveaway as to their position.

There was no way to tell time; they might have been running for days, Neptune slightly ahead of Jupiter, their short gasps of breath and pounding footsteps echoing off the walls. Jupiter's head was a swirling mass of thoughts, regret, vengeance and angst all rolled into one.

_I never got a chance to say good-bye, _she lamented, and the faces of Sailors Moon, Venus, Mars and Mercury flashed through her head. _Why did this have to happen so soon after we were all reunited?_

_Will we ever meet again? _she thought, her insides turning ice cold at the thought. Then, in an effort to lighten the mood, _Of course I will. We've always pulled through in the past. Genesis isn't going to make this time any different._

_I hope Neptune's happy, _she reflected bitterly, another spasm of anger coursing through her. _Thanks to her delusion, we're stuck in this damn tunnel! _But a hot feeling of guilt went through her at the thought, making her feel slightly sick. Neptune had not planned this out, she reminded herself. She had not forced her to come with her. She did not have to obey Pluto, but she had, and there was nothing to be done about it now.

_Where could Uranus be? _Jupiter considered the possibility that she, too, was lost in this twisting, dank, dark maze, just ahead of or behind them. She suggested this to Neptune, who rejected the idea almost immediately.

"I would know if Amara were here," she explained in a quiet voice. "And she's not, nor has she ever been. _Stop," _she added suddenly, skidding to a halt and splattering them both with mud. Jupiter nearly crashed into her as hurtled to a stop, her eyes and ears straining for a snatch of what had caused Neptune to stop.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that there was a fork in the path ahead, both leading into pitch blackness. Clutching a stitch in her side, Jupiter fought to catch her breath as her eyes flickered between paths. "Which one?" she panted at Neptune, who smiled in something remarkably like amusement.

"I was just about to ask you that," she said, laughing softly, turning her dark blue eyes upon her. "Which way do you think?"

Jupiter opened her mouth to speak, but someone else answered her first.

"Let me make it easier for you!" boomed Genesis, so loudly that Jupiter covered her ears. The force of the Dark Queen's voice caused the tunnel to rumble ominously, and the ground below them began to shake as rock fragments fell from the ceiling, pelting them like small meteorites.

"She's collapsing the tunnel!" Jupiter yelled in dismay, her arms thrown over her head in an effort to protect herself. Sure enough, the shaking turned violent as ear-splitting cracks sounded from above them, caused by massive chunks of rock falling from the ceiling at a frightening rate, creating a blinding mixture of mud and dust that was obscuring her vision-

"_COME ON!" _screamed Neptune from somewhere in front of her, and Jupiter stumbled blindly forwards, falling to her knees as she slipped in the mud. Neptune let out an impatient snarl and seized her arm, half-dragging, half-carrying her as she flew along the tunnel at an impossibly fast pace, evidently picking one of the forks in the path to go along, for soon the rumble was not just above them, it was roaring dully from their right as well.

Pulling herself together, Jupiter pulled her arm out of Neptune's steely grip and ran on her own, feet barely touching the ground for the speed she was travelling at, and yet Neptune was pulling away from her, arms and legs working furiously to propel her forwards.

_GO! _Jupiter urged herself, as the crashing behind her began to get louder. _You'll never see the others again if you don't hurry up!_

And with that thought, she uttered a wordless cry and forced herself to go faster, her strides lengthening, her breath coming in short gasps, and soon she was sprinting in time with Neptune, no longer blundering and slow, but a strong fast companion.

An almighty _CRASH! _sounded from just behind them, and with a united shout of "WOAH!" Jupiter and Neptune stumbled and fell, Jupiter lying face-first in mud, Neptune collapsing onto her back, sliding down a sharp decline in the tunnel, muddied past recognition. An uncontrollable scream of terror was wrenched from Jupiter's lips, one that was mirrored by Neptune, whom she could not see as she slid helplessly downwards, towards the gods-only-knew what-

Abruptly, the tunnel levelled out into a tight chute, and she forced her arms to her sides as she shot like a bullet into a bright whiteness, flying through open air before landing hard on her side, scraping every part of her exposed skin on an unforgiving stone floor.

When she at last skidded to a halt, Jupiter, exhausted, merely lay there, straining to catch her breath, too tired to even check if Neptune was beside her, let alone survey their surroundings. As the minutes dragged by, her breathing slowed, and Jupiter was able to force herself off the ground and onto her knees. Beside her, Neptune was on her feet, wiping mud off her face while simultaneously trying to look around.

The room was vast and dark, constructed of what Jupiter thought to be white marble, though she could not be sure. The chute they had come from had vanished, as had the long trails of mud she knew she and Neptune must have created. A tall wooden door stood fifty yards away on the other side of the room, and electric blue torches flickered from their mounted posts on the walls, bot other than that, there was nothing.

Jupiter exchanged glances with Neptune as she got to her feet, her heart pounding against her chest, blood rushing noisily through her ears. All was silent, but she would have preferred it if the room was full of deafening roars; the silence, oddly sinister pressed painfully against her ears, seeming to be too huge to be contained.

And suddenly, a bright white column of light appeared in the center of the room, illuminating a lone, very tall woman whose rippling ruby red hair may have also formed her tight-fitting, sweeping red dress. Genesis' arms were folded behind her back, her head titled to the side, slanting eyes watching them with eerie vigilance. She was so pale that she reflected the light of her makeshift spotlight, causing her to appear more ghostly, more unearthly than she should have.

Automatically, Jupiter and Neptune slid into half-crouches, their backs pressed together. Every thought in the Soldier of Lightning's head was extinguished as she glared at her enemy, daring her to try to attack.

"Congratulations on escaping the cave in," Genesis whispered in a cold voice that sent them anything but well-wishes. "Make no mistake, Sailor Soldiers; Ambassadors of Good though you may are, you will not survive me."

And before Jupiter could even begin to contemplate the name Genesis had called them, the Dark Queen had vanished, reappearing in front of them less than an instant later. She thrust her hands out from her chest, which were glowing with spheres of lavender energy, and it was all Jupiter could do to duck out of harm's way. Neptune, however, let out a feral snarl of rage and launched herself at Genesis' blind side, hands curled into claws that were stretched towards the Dark Queen-

What followed next was so fast that had Jupiter blinked, she would have missed it; Genesis whirled around and blasted Neptune back with a shock wave of white light. Jupiter opened her mouth in a wordless scream of horror as the Soldier of the Ocean was blasted over her head, a scream of piercing agony wrenched from her lips as she writhed and twisted, collapsing in a limp heap some twenty feet away from her. Her scream quickly morphed into one of utmost rage, and before Genesis could turn, she had leaped to her feet, withdrawing her senshipen as she did so, and as she forced it above her head, she shouted words she had never uttered before in her life.

"JUPITER ULTIMATUM POWER!"

In a burst of jade light, her Sailor Soldier uniform vanished, replaced by a flowing emerald dress, the many layers of her wide skirt darkening to almost black as it reached the floor. Genesis gasped, her eyes wide with horror as she took a step back from her, but Jupiter was merciless; eyes flashing, she flung her arms into the air, shouting, "JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"

Hundreds of leaves fashioned of deadly green lightning burst off her pirouetting form and tore towards Genesis like a fleet of flying daggers. But when they were an inch from piercing their target, they froze in mid-air and dissolved into a million emerald sparkles.

As Genesis barred her teeth in a blood-chilling smile, it was Jupiter's turn to gasp, and she staggered backwards from the Queen, horrified at her obscene amount of power. The last card, the one she didn't know she held, had failed her. As Genesis raised her hand, she knew the end was seconds away. She turned her head to look at Neptune, who was leaning against the wall, innumerable burns visible beneath the mud that coated her, her face a death mask of horror, and screamed, _"RUN!"_

There was a flash of blinding green light, and then, a torturous mixture of indescribable agony and a horrible sense of nothingness tore through Jupiter's body. Her scream solidified in her throat, the air in her lungs had turned to stone, but she was not blasted backwards off her feet, nor could she writhe in pain; she was rooted to the spot, anguish wrecking havoc with her body, while the horrible sense of nothingness that had claimed her chest spread throughout her body like a virus, claiming her legs and arms, leeching them of both their strength and heat, making them feel leaden, constructed of stone. Jupiter's eyes widened in horror as she stared at Genesis in disbelief, appalled at how the Dark Queen could be cackling so joyously when she had induced such horror inside the Soldier of Lightning, and then the dead feeling of nothingness claimed her head, and she knew no more.


	10. The Great Maze

A feeling of inexplicable, agonizing loss tore through Venus, rousing her from her stupor for the first time in days. The pair was a thousand times more potent than the dreadful numbness that had consumed her for the endless eternity she had been drifting through. It felt as though a part of her heart had been wrenched away from the main part and violently blasted into nothingness.

A cry of pain escaped her lips, and Venus doubled over in agony, wrapping her arms tightly around herself, clenching her eyes shut, her teeth gritted in a desperate attempt to keep herself from making more noise.

"You felt that?" Mars whispered hoarsely from beside her, once the pain had left only echoes of itself behind. Venus looked at her, and nodded slowly. Mars closed her puffy eyes and leaned her head back against the wall in a helpless sort of way.

"They are gone," Pluto said suddenly, emerging from her place in the shadows, everyone looked up at her, even Sailor Moon, who had more or less been sobbing continually since they had arrived back at Mars' shrine.

"What do you mean?" Saturn asked thickly, raising her head and brushing tears out of her over-bright violet eyes.

"Jupiter and Neptune," Pluto whispered, closing her eyes, even though she had been expecting it, the Guardian of Time's words tore through Venus like a physical pain, and tears prickled in the corners of her eyes, a single, shuddering sob escaping her lips.

"Their lights have gone out. I fear that Genesis has gotten to them after all."

Serena let out a weak sort of moan and threw her head into Mercury's lap, sobbing hysterically. The latter, whose lip was trembling and her eyes were shut tight, managed to choke out, "B-But...U-Uranus...can you s-still feel h-her?"

Pluto nodded, her solemn eyes cracking open. "Her light is as bright as always. I have no idea how she has managed to survive for this long."

"M-Michelle!" moaned Serena, who was plainly not listening to a word Pluto was saying. "Lita!"

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Mars asked Pluto weakly. The following silence was answer enough.

But during that silence, Venus' resolve, so weak and meaningless for the past forty-eight hours, suddenly strengthened to its previous formidability, bringing with it a burning flame that banished the echoes of pain that had accompanied the loss of Jupiter and Neptune, burning through the numbness, causing her to explode into speech.

"Enough moping around!" she cried, leaping to her feet. Everyone looked at her, startled, but Venus was too enraged at their lethargy to care. Pacing about the room, she had adopted the rallying voice she had used to convince Amara and Michelle to join the Outer Scouts with the Inner ones. "Genesis has taken three of us to the Moon Kingdom," she stated fiercely. "Two of whom we won't be able to save. But instead of trying to help Uranus, we're sitting around here, feeling sorry for ourselves, hoping for some marvellous solution to our dilemma to fall out of the sky.

"We've had the solution all along, Sailors! _Each other! _We have the powers of light and justice on our side, weapons that Genesis will never have!" she clenched her fists at her sides, waves of power emanating off of her, and shouted, "As the Guardian of the planet Venus, I will use the power of love to defeat that tyrant!"

"Don't forget about fire," Mars added, getting slowly to her feet and moving to stand beside Venus, a faint smile on her face.

"Or water!" Mercury cried, running to Mars' side, tossing her blue hair out of her face, eyes bright with determination.

"Or time," Pluto murmured, a shadow of a smile passing over her face as she extended her Garnet Rod towards the place where the Inner Scouts were standing.

"Plus, you've got the Sailor Scout of Destruction of your side," Saturn added, her voice mocking seriousness as she extended her Silence Glaive so as to cross it with Pluto's staff.

"And we've got Sailor Moon!" Mars barked harshly, running over to the corner in which Serena was still sobbing, wrenching her to her feet. Serena gave a spluttering, humourless laugh at Mars words, wiping her eyes on the back of her gloved hand.

"M-Me!" she stammered indignantly, looking so heartbroken that Venus took an automatic step towards her. "I c-can't do anything!"

"Oh yes you can!" Venus said fiercely, and Serena cast her dejected gaze upon the Soldier of Love. "You wield the power of the Silver Crystal, Sailor Moon! You've got perseverance and love on your side!"

"Gifts that are just as treasured as deadly power," Pluto murmured in agreement, bowing her jade haired head.

"Something I'd trade for any day," Saturn muttered, and everyone laughed, but it died away quickly, sounding shrill and unnatural in the present circumstances.

"Just don't show her any mercy, Meatballhead," Mars told her, lightly punching her shoulder, something that was both a warning and a joke. "Because you can be sure she won't give you any."

"How are we going to get to where Genesis is, though?" Mercury asked. "Wait for another attack?"

"No," Sailor Moon said suddenly. "Sailor Teleport. Six is enough to get us to the Moon Kingdom, right?"

_But will we all arrive in the same place? _Venus wondered, though she did not voice her concerns.

"Just a moment," Pluto murmured, as everyone made to join hands. "I have something to say.

"If you find yourself facing off with Lady Genesis, do not relinquish your senshipen. Rest assured that it will be the last thing you ever do."

Venus shuddered involuntarily at Pluto's ominous words, but when the Guardian of Time did not elaborate any further, she joined hands with Mercury and Serena, facing Saturn, and closed her eyes, summoning all of her energy and focusing her inner eye on the moon, on standing outside the Moon Kingdom once more.

"Moon Cosmic Power!" shouted Serena.

"Venus Star Power!"

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Saturn Planet Power!"

"Pluto Planet Power!"

The split second after Pluto had shouted her transformation phrase, the energy that had been flowing through Venus' veins turned white-hot and she, along with everyone else, shouted, "SAILOR TELEPORT!"

Her body became an orb of shimmering golden light, and suddenly, she was streaking upwards, as fast as light, the streaks of colour that were the other Sailor Soldiers spiralling alongside her. Venus had the impression of breaking through the clouds, and then, when they were high enough, rocketing through the atmosphere, before all was lost in a flash of white light.

**Moon Kingdom**

Mars opened her eyes, and saw that she was standing in an abandoned stone ruin, the walls engraved with strange alien symbols and towering sixteen feet high. The sky above her was an ominous bloody red, streaked with thick black clouds, and every now and then, a deafening thunderclap would rent the air apart, accompanied by jagged bolts of lightning. It was by no means Earth, but it did not look a thing like the Moon Kingdom, or, indeed, any place in her dimension. Then, shaking her head, she remembered Genesis' love of trickery and illusions, and her fists clenched in anger.

"It looks like some sort of maze," someone murmured from behind her. With a gasp of surprise, Mars whirled around, her hand flying to her throat, but she relaxed slightly when she saw Saturn standing there, her violet eyes narrowed as she frowned at the ominous sky.

"Saturn," she breathed. "Thank the gods; at least we arrived together."

"Yes, but what about the others?" Saturn wondered darkly. "Someone may have arrived alone."

With a jolt, Mars realized that that was a very real possibility, and, with their luck, was probably a reality. _Oh gods, _she thought, her stomach dropping to her feet, leaving an icy sense of fear in its place. _Please don't let Serena be alone._

"Well," she said, after a moment's hesitation. "We should try to get out of here."

"How are we going to do that?" Saturn asked sceptically, and Mars half-smiled, fixing the sky with a malicious glare.

"Well, it _is _a maze. And once we get out of here, we get to Genesis." With a wink, Mars set off at a run, her footsteps masked by the thick sand beneath them. She and Saturn did not speak, for they both needed to focus all their concentration on looking out for signs of danger.

For several minutes, the only sounds were their unrhythmic gasps of breath and muffled footfalls, but at long last, Mars heard low, guttural snarls sound from around the corner up ahead. She slid to a halt, pressing her back against the cold stone wall and signalling for Saturn, who was several meters behind her, to stop. Very tentatively, she peered around the corner, and her heart skipped a terrified beat; a group of humanoid demons, similarly discoloured as Equinox and Solstice had been, barred their path, all glad in glinting gold gladiator-like armour, carrying impressive swords or sinister spiked balls attached to chains.

Mars pulled her head back, suddenly aware of how hard her heart was pounding in her chest. She made to run over to Saturn, but nearly lost her balance, for she had sunk knee-deep into the sand below her. _Quicksand, _Mars realized, cursing her luck while gasping in surprise, followed by instant silence from the group of muscle-bound men.

"_Saturn, run!" _Mars mouthed at her companion, who had not sunk as deep into the quicksand as she and had managed to pull her navy blue boots out of the mixture. She retreated several feet but did not run, her large violet eyes round with indecision.

"Did you hear something?" growled one of the men, his voice as harsh as the weapon he carried. "Sounds like someone's around the corner."

"Let's go greet 'em!" rasped another, to the others' roared approval.

"Saturn, _go!" _squeaked Mars, her voice constricted with fear as her stomach fell out of her sight. But Saturn's face hardened, and with a noise like "Hatcha!" she ran forwards, flipping onto her hands and springing through the air, soaring like an acrobat, extending a hand towards Mars, who reached out and grabbed it. With amazing, unbelievable strength, Saturn pulled her free, and Mars landed hard on her back on solid ground, while Saturn sprung out of a backwards somersault, slamming her Silence Glaive onto the ground in front of her and shouting, "SILENCE GLAIVE _SURPRISE!"_

There was a supernova class explosion of noise as a mass of violet energy exploded out of her wickedly curving blade, expanding from non-existent to thirty feet wide in less than two seconds. The agonized roars of the gladiator-like demons were turned weak and tinny in comparison to the roar of the power Saturn had unleashed, cutting through them like butter.

Mars, who had been shielding her face in the crook of her arm, raised her head and opened her eyes once the roar of Saturn's attack had died away. The route ahead of them was completely deserted now, albeit for innumerable clouds of choking black smoke lingering at the sandy bottom of the maze, the only remains of the gladiator-like demons.

"Wow," she breathed, letting her arm drop to her side and staring at Saturn as if she had never seen her before. The Messiah of Silence did not speak, nor did she turn around or give any sign that she had heard Mars speak; she slung her Silence Glaive across her back and sprinted forwards, running so fast her legs appeared blurred, and she rounded the corner at a breakneck speed, vanishing from sight.

"What the -?" Mars muttered, raising her eyebrows, while a pang of annoyance went through her. With a slight growl, she took off after her young companion, breath coming in short bursts, moving her arms and legs as fast as possible, long black hair flying out behind her-

But as she rounded the corner, a dismaying sight met her eyes; the path before her split into three, each one leading into utter blackness. Saturn was nowhere to be seen, nor were her footprints. Cursing under her breath, Mars skidded to a halt, her heart hammering in her ears as she contemplated her predicament. She knew it would be foolish – or even dangerous – to call out, and yet she could not simply blunder down one of the paths without the slightest idea as to where her companion had gone.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Mars let her eyes slide closed pressed her hands together in front of her face as if praying, while she whispered, "Mars is fire, and fire is light; grant me the strength and gift of sight!" Cracking one eye open and fixing it upon the fork in the path ahead of her, she breathed, "Mars, bringer of light that shines far and wide upon this land, show me which path I must take!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and the Soldier of Fire felt a prickle of foolishness course through her, before the path on the left erupted in burning ruby light, flickering in the living spectrum for only a fraction of a second, then vanishing as abruptly as it had appeared. Smiling slightly, Mars let her hands drop to her sides and dashed forwards, mentally thanking Mars for its help.

_Damn it, Saturn! _she cursed, staggering slightly, for her legs were still numb from the quicksand. _What in the name of the gods were you thinking? What could possibly be so important that you –_

"LOOK OUT!" someone screamed from up ahead, their hoarse voice choked with panic. Alarmed, Mars staggered in her advance, and, as if to increase her confusion, the world around her was suddenly ablaze with light, so that she could see a figure hurtle out from around the corner, a figure she knew all too well-

"MERCURY!" Mars cried, recovering herself, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that there was movement on both sides of her, little gaps were appearing in the ancient stone walls alongside her-

"What – _ARGH!" _

The next thing she knew was impossible pain, and an agonized scream was wrenched from her lips as something as cold as ice and ten times as strong pierced her right leg, causing it to collapse beneath her. Mars stumbled and fell, bashing her head against a jagged rock as she did so.

"No! _Mars!" _Mercury wailed, while the sound of approaching footsteps sounded, oddly magnified, in Mars' ears, somehow managing to make themselves heard over the pounding of rushing blood in her ears, over her agonized breaths-

"Get away!" snarled Mercury, and Mars raised her shaking head to see the Soldier of Water sprinting forwards, her normally calm blue eyes ablaze with fury. "MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"

Mercury caught the glowing cyan harp that appeared out of nowhere before her and ran her fingers through its strings, causing a veritable tsunami of magically enhanced water to explode out of it, dividing itself into innumerable ribbons that sprinted through the air, over Mars' head towards whoever – or whatever – was approaching them. The roars of pain that assaulted her ears left no doubt in Mars' mind that Mercury's attack had met its target.

Gasping and shuddering, Mars forced herself onto her elbows and, at the cost of a tremendous effort for such a simple act, flipped herself onto her back so as to examine her wounded leg. A sharp gasp of both fear and pain escaped her lips as she saw an arrow protruding from her leg, quivering ominously, while blood leaked from the wound, trickling down her leg wit horrific grace. It seemed impossible that a shaft of wood as thin as the arrow could cause her that much pain, considering it had not managed to travel through her very far. Grinding her teeth together as she mentally prepared herself for what she knew must be done, Mars gripped the shaft of the arrow very tightly and dragged it out of her leg, a shuddering gasp escaping her lips, for the feeling of the arrow coming out of her body was more horrific than words could describe.

"Oh no, _oh no, _don't do that, Mars!" Mercury wailed, and Mars looked up sharply, brushing tears of pain from her eyes as she focused on her fellow Soldier with some difficulty. The Soldier of Water's rage had vanished, replaced by absolute fear as she threw herself onto her knees at Mars' side, dark blue eyes widening in horror as she surveyed her wound. "No, no, _no, _that's only making it worse!"

"Sorry," Mars snarled through gritted teeth, no trace of an apology in her voice. She clutched at her leg, which jerked involuntarily as her fingers brushed against it."We can't all be super smart."

"I tried to call out," Mercury whispered, wringing her hands and staring pleadingly into Mars' eyes, begging for forgiveness. "But I was too late, as you can see."

"That's fantastic," Mars hissed, clenching her eyes shut against the pain. "But can you please do something about my leg?"

Mercury jumped slightly, her dark eyes flashing to Mars' leg, a slightly nauseated expression on her face at the sight of all the blood. "Of course," she said, slightly indignantly. She pulled what looked like a small black medi-pack out of nowhere and began wrenching things out of it, while a sudden mass of dizziness claimed Mars, causing her to fall back against the sand, while Mercury, who seemed to notice nothing, talked from what seemed like a long way away.

"I _knew _something was going to go wrong!" Mercury fretted, pulling Mars' leg onto her lap. "We've been able to use Sailor Teleport well in the past, but only because we had _everyone _together, _and _since we were focusing on a destination that was on the same planet! Now we have no idea where anyone else is – sorry!" she added, wincing slightly, for Mars had just jerked back into awareness, giving a cry of pain as the Soldier of Water brushed her wound with what looked like a wet tissue. "Disinfectant, sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Mars said, through tightly clenched teeth. "Anyway, we're not all separated; I was with Saturn just before I found you –"

"Yes, I was with Pluto," Mercury murmured distractedly, pulling a mass of bandages out from her pack. "But we got separated."

For three minutes, Mercury worked over her with the skills to rival a practiced doctor, applying soft white bandages to her wound, effectively stemming the blood flow, while dulling the pain with some sort of anaesthetic gel.

"So you haven't seen Venus or Serena?" Mars demanded, unclenching her teeth as she allowed her companion to pull her to feet.

Mercury froze, her eyes widening as her brain registered what Mars had said. She recovered herself quickly, saying, "They must be together, I hope they are, at least, I'd hate for Serena to be on her o – _LOOK OUT!"_

Mars ducked bewilderedly, and just in time; a cloud of twenty arrows had just whizzed overhead, burying themselves harmlessly in the stone wall above their heads, where they quivered ominously. Mars looked up sharply, breath catching in her throat, and bit back a growl when she saw another group of demons, women this time, similarly clad in glinting gold armour, were sprinting towards them, large bows and quivers of arrows in hand.

"Oh no you don't!" she snarled fiercely, and with a tremendous effort, she got to her feet, drawing a circle of flame around herself, which quickly moulded itself into a massive flaming bow. "MARS!" she shouted, and in a flash of fire, a large flaming arrow appeared inside the bow. "FLAME _SNIPER!"_

She released the taught string with a sharp _twang! _sending the three foot-long arrow of flaming rage rocketing towards their enemies, who were no match for it; the arrow tore through the chests of four, five, _six _of the demons before vanishing in a burst of flame, while the demons who had been struck dissolved into nothingness, leaving nothing but choking black smoke in their wake. Those who had escaped the wrath of her Flame Sniper froze, stunned at the power she had displayed, their weapons slipping out of their grip.

"Nice work!" Mercury applauded her, clapping her hard on the back. "Do you think you'll be able to run?"

Mars tentatively put some weight on her leg, which now felt as though it had been injected with some sort of painkiller and did not give away. "Yeah," she told her. "Though I'll pay for it later. I'm going to need to see a real doctor after this."

Mercury ignored her slight about her medical ability, and, smiling in spite of the dire situation they had landed themselves in, followed the Soldier of Water as she sprinted around the corner leading away from the mass of demons, who seemed to have recovered themselves and were snarling commands at each other in a rough, primitive language she neither understood nor cared about.

But as they rounded the corner, she knew instantly that there was something wrong; they were not faced with another peril-filled corridor, but found themselves standing in a massive, cavernous room constructed solely of white marble, which was made twenty times more ominous for the fact that the room was almost immersed in complete darkness and, did not, apparently, have a ceiling, seeming to open straight up to blackness. It was devoid of furniture, albeit for a strange, impossibly slim circular pool of light. Bewilderedly, Mars looked over her shoulder, but saw only a wall of shadowy marble.

"What the -" Mars began, but Mercury cut across her.

"I know where we are," she whispered, her expression that of someone awakening from a particularly horrible nightmare as she walked towards the circular pool of light. "This...this was in the palace...in the Moon Kingdom! This is where those people were depositing the souls of the people on Earth!"

They stared at each other in stunned silence, unable to comprehend how they had gotten here. But then, as abruptly as if she had been struck by lightning, a realization hit Mars, so powerfully that she felt as though she had been punched in the face. "Mercury," she whispered, staggering backwards, her heart hammering loudly in her ears, mouth bone dry. "Don't you see? This is Genesis' power source! We could have destroyed it before, if only those freaks in cloaks hadn't spotted us!"

Mercury's mouth fell open in a perfect 'o' of shock, and Mars could almost hear the click of comprehension take place in her companion's brain. "By the gods," she breathed, her eyes huge, reflecting the light of the pool. "You're right!"

"But unfortunately for you," cackled a falsely jubilant voice from behind them, a voice that was branded into both of their memories in a horrific, eternal reminder of its owner. "You two were too slow to act on that opportunity!"

With sharp intakes of breath, Mars and Mercury whirled around and, sure enough, Genesis was standing there, one hand hovering beside her head, cupped beneath two floating, rotating spheres. Both glowed incredibly brightly, almost painfully so, like miniature suns, one a stunning emerald, the other a majestic, oceanic blue. Mars stared at them, feeling slightly confused, for they both looked strangely familiar to her, but the fact that they were hovering before her, in Genesis' grasp, inexplicably repulsed her.

And suddenly, the green one flashed the golden sign of Jupiter, while the blue once displayed Neptune's, and everything became frighteningly clear to her. Those glittering gems were the power crystals of Neptune and Jupiter, the sources of their power. Pluto's parting warning flashed across her mind, ringing ominously through it.

_No matter what, do not relinquish your senshipens to Genesis. Rest assured that it will be the last thing you ever do. _

Before, she had not understood this warning; it had seemed slightly pointless, because she would never willingly give away her senshipen, not even to her grandfather, let alone the most evil woman she had ever had the misfortune to meet. Now, however, its cryptic meaning became frighteningly clear. Their power crystals were, in fact, Planet Crystals, the souls of their beloved planets, and if – Mars' eyes widened in shock at the realization – they carried the Planet Crystals, then that made the Sailor Soldiers-

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Genesis whispered, giving her raised hand a little flick and causing the Planet Crystals to circle around her head. "And they have immense power, too. I can see why you Soldiers tried to keep them from me. No matter," her soulless red eyes flashed menacingly, fixed upon their horrified faces, and she smiled mockingly at them. "I shall have all in the end."

"Those belong to Neptune and Jupiter!" Mercury shouted, her voice shaking with fury.

"Belong_ed_," Genesis corrected her, as if grammar was at all important. "I took these from the Princesses of the Ocean and Lightning not one hour ago. They did not protest." She laughed, a horrific, bone chilling sound, and she swept one deathly pale hand through the air, so that two statues appeared before her, iron grey and yet impossibly realistic-

_No, _Mars thought, disgusted, her horrified brain grinding to a halt. Jupiter's face was contorted with both rage and agony, mouth open in a wordless shout of warning no one could hear. Neptune's expression was one of utmost shock, one hand clasped over her chest, mouth open in wide scream of terror. Both of them were clad in magnificent, massive-skirted dresses that had been turned a dead, depressing grey, as had the rest of them, and they had a strangely weak look about them, as though they had been leeched of their strength.

And then, quite abruptly, the shock and sorrow that had threatened to overwhelm her morphed into absolute rage, rage that consumed her so completely that she shook with fury, dark eyes fixed upon the vile, red haired woman before her. _"THEIF!" _she shouted, jabbing a shaking finger at the Dark Queen, who smiled in amusement. "Don't try to fill our heads with lies!"

"LIAR! _MURDERED!" _screamed Mercury, hands balled into fists at her sides. As one, she and Mercury shouted, "WE SHALL PUNISH YOU!"

In perfect unison, they raised their senshipens above their heads and cried-

"MARS ULTIMATUM POWER!"

"MERCURY ULTIMATUM POWER!"

In a burst of flame, a silken ruby dress had replaced her Sailor Soldier uniform, low cut and close-fitting. Tossing her head furiously, Mars threw her hands above her head and screamed, "MARS FIREBIRD _STIRKE!" _causing a monstrous bird composed solely of flames to burst into existence, renting their air apart with an almost musical caw of rage. It hovered before her for a moment, a guardian between herself and the monstrosity that was Genesis, and then it streaked forwards, leaving a flaming trail in its wake, massive wings pressed against its sides, beak opened wide-

But Genesis merely raised one hand in front of her, and when her Firebird was a merely inch from her face, a half-sphere of translucent onyx energy appeared in front of her like a shield, protecting her from harm; Mars' attack rammed into it with the force of a nuclear bomb exploding, and an almighty roar consumed the cavernous room they were battling in, but it was not Genesis who was harmed. Her firebird exploded into infinitesimal fiery sparks that rocketed every which way, burning themselves into non-existence.

A gasp of horror escaped Mars' lips as the Dark Queen raised her head, face partly obscured by shadows, but the half of her face she could see was twisted with inhumane joy. "Pathetic!" she cawed, throwing back her head and letting out a wild shriek of laughter that almost immediately turned into a scream of bewildered pain, for Mercury had screamed, "MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" and sent a mass of lethal cyan water rocketing towards the Queen, striking her squarely in the face and blasting her off her feet. Genesis rammed into the stone wall beside her with crushing force, sending a tremor that was impossibly disproportionate to her size running through the room. And yet, somehow, impossibly, she was not incapacitate; landing heavily on her feet, the Dark Queen raised her head, her face contorted with rage, blood red eyes glowing with both murderous fury and power, and before Mars could think, or even breath, Genesis had extended her palm and unleashed a wordless scream, sensing a bolt of black energy rocketing towards Mercury, streaking forwards at two times the speed of light, and the Soldier of Water opened her mouth in surprise as she was hit.

"_NO!" _yelped Mars, as a ring of lime green light exploded off of Mercury, and a white current of light passed over her body, the places it left behind turning to iron grey stone. She stood, one arm still extended, the other at her side, puffy cyan dress turned depressing grey.

From her chest came a brilliant blue sphere, glowing like a miniature sun, which hummed faintly as it floated towards Genesis' outstretched hand, above which the Planet Crystals of Jupiter and Neptune were hovering.

"You're a monster," was all Mars could say, her voice choked with emotion. Genesis' eyes flashed to her face, malicious joy faltering upon it as her mouth twitched in annoyance, as though Mars were an irritating fly that she thought she had killed.

"Perhaps," she allowed, tilting her head to the side in an almost contemplating way, clenching her fist around the three stolen Planet Crystals. "But at least I am alive." And Genesis slashed her hand through the air, sending a streak of black cackling towards her. A feeling of horrible numbness ripped through her body, leaving a sense of awful deadness in its wake, and then Sailor Mars was no more.

Pluto staggered in her advance as two sharp, impossible painful stabs of loss attacked her heart. _Oh no, _she thought, as a pair of burning, vital flames of life were extinguished, and as each one was doused, she felt as though parts of herself had been wrenched out of her and violently destroyed. _Sailor Mars! Sailor Mercury! _The faces of the stars of Fire and Water flashed through her mind, accompanied by a single, perfect tear that rolled slowly down her cheek.

"_Pluto!" _Saturn cried, grabbing her arm. "Who...I don't -?"

"Mars and Mercury have been taken," Pluto breathed, and Saturn moaned weakly. "Dragged into eternal shadows. Genesis has eliminated nearly half of us."

"What about Venus and Uranus?" Saturn whispered, clenching her Silence Glaive. "Or Serena? Are they alright?"

"I hope so. There's nothing we can do for them if they aren't." Pluto got heavily to her feet, staring at her young companion. "Remember how I told you not to relinquish your senshipen?"

Saturn blinked, taken aback by this abrupt change in subject, but nodded. "Yeah. Why, though?"

Pluto opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off by a loud shout of, _"There they are!"_

The two Outer Scouts whirled around, and Pluto's heart sank. Another group of Genesis' seemingly endless supply of demons had roared around the corner of the maze, carrying sinister blades as weapons and, in some cases, spiked balls and axes acted as replacements for their arms.

"Let me handle this!" she cried, twirling her staff above her head and ramming it into the sandy ground before her. _"PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!"_

Roaring winds encircled her, and with a graceful twirl she caused a huge sphere of purple energy to explode out of her staff with a bone-chilling scream, bursting through the veil of wind at an impossible speed. The demons who had been advancing upon them let out terrified shrieks, skidding to halts at various intervals and attempting to dodge out of harm's way, but to no avail; the power of the underworld struck them with crushing force, sending them into no-being, leaving nothing but their agonized roars in its wake.

But no sooner had they vanished, however, than her world flashed green and orange, and a ring of jeering gladiator-like demons with electric blue skin had materialized around them, gnashing their teeth and swinging their weapons. Pluto and Saturn backed into each other, clenching their respective weapons, and suddenly, one of the gladiators let out a bull-like roar and hurled a spiked ball attached to a chain at them. Instinctively, Pluto jumped high into the air and out of harm's way, but a scream of terror that sounded from beneath her told her Saturn was not so quick. She turned upside-down in mid-air and saw that the chain of the ball had wrapped itself around her legs, causing the Messiah of Silence to overbalance and, her Silence Glaive flying out of her hand, fall hard onto the ground, as helpless as a fish out of water.

The men unleashed barbaric roars as fierce as their appearances and charged at the felled Saturn, like sharks on the scent of blood, but with a wordless gasp Pluto turned a backwards somersault and landed hard upright, standing protectively over her companion. She swung her Garnet Rod forwards as though it were as light as air, catching two of the demons on the side of the head and causing them to collapse onto the ground with dull thuds, still as the dead. Once swung his sword at her in an attempt to cleave her in two, but she forced her staff above her head to parry the blow, causing the demon to stagger backwards, off-balanced. Pluto kicked him hard in the chest while leaning so far backwards that the back of her head brushed the sandy ground, for another demon had slashed his sword through the air, aiming for her neck. With a snarl of concentration, Pluto heaved herself backwards in a somersault kick, catching a demon sharply underneath the chin and causing him to roar in agony. As soon as she landed on her feet, she swung her Garnet Rod through the air, slamming it into a pair of demons that dropped like a sack of rocks, then shoved it through the space between her right arm and torso with crushing force, causing a gladiator who had been attempting to attack her from behind to double over in pain. She spun around so fast her long tail of emerald hair whipped three demons harshly across the face while lashing out in a spinning twist kick, a blow that knocked one man into two of his fellows, and they collapsed in a limp heap.

Four men remained now, and as Pluto turned to face them, she found a sword tip inches from her throat.

"Nice moves," rasped the man wielding the blade, a frightening smile upon his face. "But playtime's _over!"_

He made to stab her through the throat, but time seemed to freeze, leaving only one person exempt, a person who scoffed, "Yeah...for you," and then shouted, "SILENCE GLAIVE _SURPRISE!" _causing a deafening explosion to rent the air apart, accompanied by a mass of purple light ripping its way into the living spectrum, tearing the skeletal-gladiators apart, so that they were reduced to clouds of choking black smoke, their screams echoing faintly throughout their passageway.

"Thanks," murmured Pluto, running a hand down her throat, brushing the place the demon had touched with his sword. Saturn winked, twirling her Silence Glaive and holding it diagonally across her body.

"I owed you one," she said with a laugh, and the two of them clasped hands briefly before sprinting off in the direction they had been headed before Pluto had felt the lights of Mars and Mercury go out.

The corner they rounded revealed a blank stretch of maze, which Pluto was far from relaxed to see; she had long since learned that it was better to turn a corner and see that a mass of demons were awaiting her, for at least then she knew what to expect.

And then, as if to confirm her way of thinking, there was a loud metallic _shink! _as if a hundred swords were being withdrawn from their sheaths, and suddenly, six foot-high metallic spikes had erupted out of the ground all around her, two feet thick, the closest one to her an inch from her nose. Pluto froze in mid-stride, balancing on one leg, her breath catching in her throat, dark red eyes widening in surprise, her Garnet Rod nearly slipping from her grip.

And then, quite abruptly, she remembered that she was not alone.

"_Saturn!" _she choked out, horrified, her head whipping around so fast she nearly snapped her own neck, but her terror vanished when she saw the Messiah of Silence, unharmed, several feet behind her, in the act of taking another step, her arms frozen above her head as if in submission, a look of utmost shock upon her face.

"Thank the gods," Pluto breathed, cautiously relaxing out of her position. "I thought...I thought you were -" Saturn merely nodded, still looking slightly shell-shocked as she lowered her hands. Suddenly, the metal spikes that had erupted all around them withdrew back into the ground, their sharp metallic _shinks _causing a thrill of fear to run through Pluto; when the spikes next popped up – and she knew they would – she knew that they would not both be able to cheat death again.

"_Run!" _she cried, sprinting forwards, her long jade hair flying out behind her as she ran, arms and legs working furiously to propel herself forwards, while Saturn, gasping and panting, struggled to keep up with her. Even in her panicked state of mind, Pluto refrained from running at top speed, for she knew Saturn would not be able to keep up, and would never forgive herself if she left Saturn to the mercy of Genesis' maze.

"Come on, Saturn!" she gasped, throwing a terrified glance over her shoulder. "We've got...got to..."

The words died in her throat as time seemed to pass in slow motion, the air pulsing around her, while a strange energy flashed through the world. Pluto's eyes widened in horror, for she realized what was going to happen a second before it did, and, knowing that they would not reach the end of the passageway, she skidded to a halt, seized Saturn, and used her momentum to hurl her unceremoniously into the air, and then leapt after her.

"_PLUTO!" _screamed Saturn, her pale face twisted with terror as she soared upside-down through the air, extending one shaking gloved hand towards her as time sped up, and with a sickening _WOOSH! _The spikes punched out of the ground, not leaving an inch of space between themselves this time. Pluto's breath whooshed out of her lungs as though she had been punch in the stomach, but she forced herself to concentrate as her feet connected with the stone wall behind her. With a soft grunt, she push away from it as hard as she could, turning a backwards somersault as she flew towards the opposite wall; she push off this, too, and flew like an acrobat towards Saturn, who was still, impossibly, suspended in the air. Pluto caught her against her chest and landed agilely upon the thin catwalk that was the top of the stone wall.

Breathing deeply, she set Saturn on her feet, overcome with thanks at their narrow escape. To steady herself, she grasped her friend's shoulder and closed her eyes, whispering, "Pluto, star of the underworld, thank you for guiding me through this dark maze."

"Look!" Saturn gasped, and Pluto's eyes snapped open. A massive stone wall, too high for them to see over, towered against the sky, marking the edge of the wretched deathtrap they had been caught in. And where the edge was, so was Genesis.

A smile spreading across her face, Pluto clenched her fists in anticipation and hissed, "Well done Saturn."

"Let's end this," Saturn murmured in agreement, violet eyes flashing ominously.

Carefully, they ran atop the wall, hopping from segment to segment when required, until they stood before the massive stone wall. Wordlessly, Saturn placed her palm against it, and with a noise like a cannon blast, a large hole was blasted through it, accompanied by a burst of sparkling lavender energy that nearly forced Pluto off her precarious perch.

Saturn dove through the hole, and Pluto corkscrewed herself after her. She caught a fleeting, airborne glimpse of the beautiful marble palace of the Moon Kingdom, its back a mere hundred yards away from them, but then, with a laseresque explosion of noise, she found herself standing in a room doused in semi-darkness, constructed of white marble bathed in shadows and seeming to open up to the star-devoided heavens, lit by ominous, flickering blue torches.

_There was never a way out, _Pluto realized, anger threatening to overwhelm her. _That maze only existed to exhaust us. And since we found our way out...we came here._

Before them stood four stone statues, all of young women clad in magnificent dresses, graceful even when they were not moving. Each of their faces were carved – _No, _Pluto realized with a jolt, for she knew these were no ordinary statues. _Frozen – _in varying displays of shock, their screams of agony and warning trapped inside of them-

_They are no ordinary women, _Pluto thought with a sickening jolt, her stomach clenching in fear. _They are Sailor Princesses._

And it was true – Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune, all immobilized before her, doomed to stare into space for all eternity.

"Princesses?" whispered Saturn, sounding mortified, turning her pale face towards Pluto, whose heart clenched painfully.

"Yes," she whispered, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering torchlight. "The nine Sailor Princesses, defenders of their planets, both royalty and warrior."

"You...you _knew?" _Saturn asked incredulously, and Pluto nodded once, a sad smile upon her lips. "Why didn't you tell us? How didn't we _know _we were princesses?" Saturn demanded, though she did not sound angry.

"I was forbidden," Pluto whispered, remembering the words Queen Serenity had spoken to her, so long ago, words she had spoken before Genesis' assault upon the Moon Kingdom. "She foresaw what I did not; she knew we could not defeat Genesis in the Moon Kingdom, knew that all but Earth was doomed. She orchestrated our fates from beginning to end...she always knew we would end up on Earth, and in the case of this ever happening...of Genesis hunting down the nine Sailor Princesses, she didn't want us to know the truth about our powers, or our origins, in order to protect our Planet Crystals. Serenity made it so that when we were reborn on Earth and got our memories back, we would have no idea that we were all, at one time, Princesses."

"At any rate," she added, smiling mirthlessly at the incredulous look on Saturn's face. "Only the Moon Princess can unite all nine princesses, at the time of her ultimate crisis. But until then," she looked urgently into Saturn's wide violet eyes, voice dropping to the softest of murmurs. _"Protect your senshipen."_

"So," snarled a cold, cruel voice, and Pluto and Saturn turned to see a woman of terrifying beauty standing twenty feet from them, her back turned to them, her rippling red hair quivering in unnerving likeliness to flames. "You escaped my maze unharmed, and have come to terms with what I have known for an incredibly long time. I hope you aren't letting yourselves feel..._hopeful, _Sailor Soldiers. You have no chance against me, Lady Ge-"

Genesis broke off suddenly, for when she turned and saw who she was facing, her eyes widened in horrified recognition.

"_You!" _she gasped, her body trembling in both fear and rage. _"YOU! _The fools who dared to test me! Who locked me away and drained me of my power! The Guardian of time and Messiah of Silence!"

"Glad you remember us," Saturn hissed, voice dripping with venom, twirling her Silence Glaive.

Genesis snarled in utmost rage, sparks flying unnervingly from her fingertips. "Do you know what it was like?" she shouted at them, half-crazed with fury; evidently, the memory of her imprisonment was more potent than the both brutal means of torture to her. "To drift through time and space for thousands of years, to _lose _everything I had gained?"

"Not really," Pluto snarled, her voice ice-cold, and Genesis let out a wild shriek. "You should have thought about that before you wiped out our civilizations."

"_I WAS ENTITLED TO THEM!" _screamed Genesis, and without warning, a blast of ruby energy exploded off of her, causing indescribable agony to tear through Pluto, and she screamed, a long, drawn-out cry of agony that was echoed by Saturn.

As horribly intolerable as the pain was, it lasted only for a split second, and Pluto fell to her knees, shoulders heaving as she gulped down air. That was nothing, she told herself, in an effort to remind herself of the direness of their situation. Nothing, compared to what she knew would await the world if Genesis managed to defeat them.

From beside her, Saturn, whose voice was remarkably steady despite of the torture she had just endured, snarled, "Big mistake."

Pluto looked up, and her heart nearly stopped; Saturn had crossed the distance between herself and Genesis, and shouted, "In order to destroy you, I will sacrifice my own life, in the name of love, hope and justice!"

"Saturn, _don't!" _Pluto cried out, forcing herself upright and staggering forwards, one arm outstretched towards the Messiah of Silence.

"Listen to you friend," Genesis whispered, in a voice of deadly calm, though her eyes betrayed her facade of calmness, for fear lingered in them at being faced with Saturn's Silence Glaive once more. "Would you risk destroying four of your friends' planets, shines that are so important to your Solar System, for my life?"

Pluto's eyes widened in horror, while Genesis' flashed with pure evil. "That's right!" she crowed triumphantly, the fear in her eyes vanishing as spheres of ruby, emerald, cyan and sapphire appeared around her head. "The Planet Crystals of Mars, Jupiter, Neptune and Mercury are in my grasp now! Their power is one with my own! Destroy me, and you destroy them, along with these statues." Genesis waved one hand carelessly at the four Sailor Soldiers she had managed to kill, while a smile of pure malice spread across her face. "They gave them to me when I offered them quick death in exchange."

"DON'T _LIE!" _Pluto and Saturn screamed, neither willing to believe that their fellow Soldiers had betrayed them, and it was Genesis' wild laughter that caused them to burst into furious attack.

"PLUTO DEADLY _SCREAM!"_

"SILENCE GLAIVE _ELIMINATE!"_

Perhaps Genesis realized that she would not survive the coming attacks, even if she had the souls of four planets on her side. The next thing Pluto knew, at any rate, was impossible, intolerable, torturous agony; the combined forces of fire, lightning and the thunderous waves of the oceans were unleashed upon her, coupled with the rebounding powers of hers and Saturn's attacks, and with an ear-splitting scream, she was blasted into the wall behind her, nearly cracking her skull open. As she slid down the wall, every part of her screamed in burning agony, she wanted to die, she wanted release from this senseless pain...

But Pluto knew that she could not allow the torture to end, for the moment it did, so would her life, and Genesis would claim another Planet Crystal, a reality Earth could not afford to face. And so, summoning every last ion of her willpower, she forced herself to move past the excruciating torture the Dark Queen had unleashed upon her, reaching a trembling hand into her skirt and pulling out her senshipen, shaking so violently she thought she would drop it. In a weak, slurred voice, she whispered, "Pluto...U-Ultimatum...P...Power!" And a powerful gust of wind passed over her, whisking away her Sailor Soldier uniform and replacing it with a silken onyx gown, trimmed with fine black lace, and what felt strangely like delicate onyx wings protruded from its back. Some of her strength returned, but the echoes of pain did not vanish, and so, through gritted teeth, Pluto unattached her Planet Crystal from its holder, drawing strength from its surprising heat. It was pulsating in exact time to her heart.

"Pluto, Star of the Underworld," she whispered, clenching her hand around the soul of her Planet. "Send this t-to...safety...to the Moon Princess -"

"Naughty, naughty!" tisked Genesis from above her, and Pluto gave a gasp of horror, raising her trembling head up, just in time to see the Dark Queen step hard on her wrist, wrenching a strangled cry of pain from her lips as her hand automatically unclenched. "I need that Crystal, Princess!"

"Get...away!" Pluto snarled, not quite managing to evoke the rebelliousness in her voice she had wanted, wrenching her grips out from beneath Genesis and groping around for the warm black stone she so desperately needed-

But as her hand closed around it, there was a harsh, bone-chilling laugh from above her, causing her Planet Crystal to feel ice-cold in her hand, and then, the world was lost in a flash of green light, her body was rent apart by a horrible sense of numbness, and then there was nothing but blackness.


	11. Union of the Shining Blondes

"Moon Tiara Action!" cried Sailor Moon, wrenching her tiara off her head and hurling it at the women before her, whose mocking cackles turned to shrieks of fear pain as it tore through four of the number's chests. Sailor Moon gasped as a large amount of her dwindling energy supplies vanished, causing the edges of her vision to turn black, her heart pounding abnormally loudly in her ears, while her head spun with dizziness. But the next second it had gone, she had caught her tiara and replaced it on her head, and then she turned sharply and sprinted away from her seemingly unlimited supply of enemies, their harsh, demonic laughter ringing mockingly in her ears.

Why, _why _had they all arrived separately? Why had she not caught a glimpse of the others yet? Were they even in this wretched maze? _No, _a voice in her head whispered, and a pang of sorrow rent through her body. _They must be here. I felt two of their lights go out, not long ago._

Two perfect, shining tears rolled down her cheeks at the thought, and so absorbed was she in her own sorrow that she did not notice the fleet of sinisterly whizzing arrows rocket over her head. It was impossibly unfair, that Genesis, aided by both her immense power and impossible viciousness, was picking them off in pairs, and had yet to make an appearance, unless you counted the Dark Queen's ghostly laughter echoing throughout the maze...or perhaps she was just hallucinating. Her demons, meanwhile, had no opposition whatsoever to appearing in front of her, not deadly powerful, but nor were they snivelling weaklings, either. Their greatest strength, perhaps, were their sheer numbers, which seemed to be infinite. Her powers, however, were _not, _and her energy supplies, already at an all-time low from using Sailor Teleport without all the other Scouts, was bordering on non-existent, for she had been forced to attack the demons when they came too close, when there were too many of them...

The sad thing was, her attacks she used were not strong enough to take out all the monstrosities she was faced with; Moon Tiara Action, Moon Sceptre Elimination...sometimes, they failed to even mortally wound her enemies, and while some of her attacks were immensely powerful, they would leave her with barely enough energy to keep breathing.

"When I get my hands on Genesis," she growled, clenching her fists as she skidded around the corner. "She'll be – _ARGH!"_

For two sharp spasms of agony had just punched through her body, seeming to leave gaping, screaming holes in their wake. Serena gave a cry of both bewilderment and denial as she felt two more lights go out, glowing, vital lights belonging to Sailor Soldiers that had just been dragged into eternal shadow.

"_NO!" _she screamed, collapsing onto her knees, her strength gone, resolve extinguished like a match dropped into the ocean. She lay, shuddering and sobbing, in the sand, each beat from her heart seeming to pump agony through her body in the place of blood, and as she heard heavy footfalls sounding from behind her, growing louder with each pain-drenched second, the rough, muffled shouting of a new batch of Genesis' demons loud in her ears, she knew that death was meters away from her.

And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Her energy was gone, drained to next to nothing, and even if it hadn't been, she knew she wouldn't have had the strength to defend herself. Eight of her friends were dead, and though she would have rather died than admit it to herself, she knew it was true. And if Genesis had sliced through eight Sailor Soldiers without seeming to suffer the slightest bit of damage, Soldiers she knew were each ten times stronger than she, then she knew that she stood about as much of a chance against the Dark Queen as a human did.

"Help...someone..._anyone!" _whispered Serena, throwing her hands over her head as she waited for a swish of a sword, the thud of axe, for the blow that would end her life...

But it did not come. After several moments, it became apparent to her that she was not, in fact, about to die, and so she felt it was safe to raise her head, and a gasp of surprise escaped her lips; she was no longer lying in the sand in that wretched, demon filled maze with a blood-stained sky, but in a sunlight, perfectly circular clearing in the middle of a lush green forest, where every blade of grass, every leaf seemed to sparkle with radiance. Sunlight filtered through the soft green canopy of vegetation above her, falling in small chinks here and there, the widest one fixed upon her.

"Impossible," whispered Serena, marvelling at how she had managed to cheat death once again, her eyes huge as she forced herself onto her hands and knees, trembling slightly. There was no sign of danger in her new surroundings, it was as contrasting as possible to the place she had just been, for it was peaceful...serene...

Too peaceful.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Sailor Moon turned slowly on the spot, searching for any sign of hidden danger, for she knew that this clearing was just as dangerous as it had been in...where had she just come from? Confused, she tilted her head slightly to the side, straining to remember her previous surroundings, but, to her horror, she found that they seemed to be slipping away, like an elusive dream-

_No! _cried her subconsciousness, struggling against the strange fog that seemed to be settling over her brain like an illness, straining to make her remember the truth. _You were just on the brink of death, Serena! _

But was she?

_Genesis wouldn't simply want to save you! _screamed that defiant voice in her head, a note of desperation in its voice.

But who _was _Genesis?

"No, no, _no!" _shouted Sailor Moon, clutching at the side of her head with clawed fingers, shaking it roughly from side to side as she fell to her knees once more. "I've got to save...I've got...to..."

But the important something she had been struggling to remember, the thing that her whole life seemed to have been revolving around, the mission she had been on, faded from her mind as though it had sunk down a drain, leaving a calm sense of emptiness in her head, her subconsciousness' protests drowned out by the blank fog that had taken over her mind. There was no need for worry or fear or pain in the clearing, she reasoned. What could be more important than sitting here?

As if to strengthen her reasoning, she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye, and she raised her head quite calmly to see that a small grey rabbit had emerged from the bushes up ahead, its sparkling brown eyes wide. Slightly bemused, she watched as it hopped to her side, murmuring, "Hello!"

"Where did you come from?" the rabbit demanded, in a quavering, high-pitched voice, its expression slightly accusatory. The look in its eyes caused a faint pang of remembrance to course through her, and Sailor Mercury's face flashed through her mind, but Sailor Moon was so far gone that she barely registered what she had seen.

"Where did I...come from?" Serena whispered, putting one finger to her lips as she contemplated the rabbit's question. "I...I don't know!"

"But you were looking for something, weren't you?" the rabbit continued to demand, a slightly hysterical note in its voice at how unhelpful her answers were.

"I..." Sailor Moon was distracted by a flurry of movement on all sides of her, and she suddenly found herself to be surrounded by forest creatures, deer and bear cubs and baby racoons, jewel-bright birds that had alighted on her arms and shoulders, tawny and snow white rabbits that had joined the grey one, each of their expressions slightly accusatory.

"Who were you talking about just now, then?" a pure white rabbit with astonishing blue eyes asked, hopping forwards so that its front paws were resting on her knees. As Serena gazed bewilderedly into its eyes, a flash of familiarity went through her once more, and this time, Sailor Venus' face flashed through her mind.

"I...no one!" Sailor Moon cried, shaking her head slightly to rid herself of Venus' face. "I don't know anyone, other than you!"

A slightly sinister gleam appeared in the grey rabbit's eyes, but it vanished almost instantly, replaced by a look of tearful innocence. "You were talking about your other friends!" it whined, a glistening tear trickling down its cheek.

_Animals aren't supposed to cry, _Sailor Moon found herself thinking, her subconsciousness struggling to wake from the enchantment that had fallen over her. But the thought was banished almost instantly, for a sapphire bird that had alighted on her right shoulder twittered in her ear, "They abandoned you, Moon Princess. Doesn't that prove that they aren't worth going after? If they didn't care about you enough to even look for you in that dark place you came from?"

Sailor Moon was so lost in the grey rabbit's sparkling brown eyes that she did not even register that the bird had used her title that marked her as royalty, its words washing over her like a gentle wind. "You're right," she whispered, without really realizing what she was agreeing to, anger that was not her own flaring inside her.

"So you'll stay for us?" whispered a raccoon cub, a barely detectable wickedness in its voice.

Sailor Moon nodded quickly, eager to please the animals. "Forever," she added hastily, extending one hand and running it through the rabbit's fur. The animals exchanged fleeting, triumphant looks then moved in closer around Serena, allowing the bemused Soldier to pet them gently.

Several miles away, a woman with flaming red hair let out a wild cackle of laughter, watching the proceedings through an impossibly slim pool of light. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Moon Princess," she whispered, blood red eyes flashing ominously as she observed the success of her illusion. "Soon, you will have forgotten the very meaning of happiness."

When Venus opened her eyes after rematerializing, she wondered if she hadn't left Earth at all. She was surrounded by a vivid green mass of plant life, dotted with luscious red flowers and strange, multicoloured plants. The jungle was so thick she could not see a foot past its boundaries, but was more than capable of hearing the strange hoots and roars of animals concealed in its depths. The world was ablaze with sunlight, the sky a cloudless, crystalline blue, and air was hot and sticky, almost moist, buzzing with the unhalting noise of insect wings.

_Where in the world am I? _Venus asked herself, slapping at a bug that had gotten too close to her face. For a moment, she stared about in stunned wonderment, only dimly aware that none of the other Sailor Soldiers were at her side, but then a tall, dark shadowy figure darted through the trees up ahead, and with a sharp intake of breath, she hissed, _"Genesis!" _remembering the Dark Queen's love of trickery and illusions.

Very cautiously, Venus stepped forwards, and at the same time, something brushed her briefly across the back. Whirling around, she caught sight of a mass of dark red hair retreating into the jungle, and she let out a snarl of frustration, eyes narrowing to slits as she clenched her fists, preparing to fight-

A wooden arrow streaked sinisterly over her head, moving so fast it appeared blurred, and, without pausing to think, she whirled around, one hand at her lips as she shouted, "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"

A fleet of golden hearts burst out of her hand, and slammed into what looked like an electric blue native, but she could not be sure, for whatever it was disappeared in a crack of black smoke when her attack hit it. Savage cries sounded from all around her as more women leapt out of the foliage, their chaotic flaming hair flying around their faces, swirling paint markings covering their scantily clad bodies, tightening the strings on their lethal-looking bows as they prepared to let arrows fly-

With a growl, Venus flung herself skywards, catching a low-lying branch and swinging herself into a crouch atop it. With cat-like hisses the demons unleashed their arrows, which whizzed past her with lethal swishes. Clearly as tough as they looked, several leapt onto surrounding bushes and took agile dives at her; Venus ducked under the first one with a startled cry, then was instantly forced to leap over another, but while she was in the air, a third slammed into her with the force of a charging elephant, knocking the air out of her. Its momentum hurled them both into a nearby tree, and the demon pinned her against it with one clawed hand while drawing the other back over its shoulder, clutching a crude stone dagger, preparing to plunge it into her chest, but with a cry of denial, Venus kicked her hard in the stomach and sent her enemy yowling backwards-

An arrow flew towards her, shooting underneath her outstretched arm and pinning her shirt against the wooden trunk, where it quivered ominously. Blank with shock, Venus was pulled downwards as per gravity, her shirt tearing as she did so, but she had no time for regret; she rolled through a nearby bush and started to sprint through the thick mass of trees, but a demon dropped out of the trees above her to block her path. Refusing to break stride, Venus jumped into a somersault kick that connected with her unfortunate adversary's face and sent her sprawling onto the ground.

"Don't you ever _stop?" _Venus yelled in exasperation, sprinting away from the felled native. Navigating the jungle would have been challenging enough at a walk, but as she was sprinting, it was all she could do to keep from tripping over camouflaged vines or knotted roots, or slamming into closely set trees, let alone the fact that there was an unknown number of otherworldly, ruthless fiends chasing after her.

_I need time to think! _Venus thought in frustration, nearly crashing into a tree as she checked to see where the demons were.

They were incredibly fast and agile, reminding her of monkeys as some swung from branch to branch like trapeze artists, others hurtling in and out of view as they sprinted after her. They had a seemingly endless supply of arrows at their disposal and were lethally accurate with their shots, but Venus, who was thankfully adept at dodging, was forced to do everything from twirls to dives to rolling in new directions to avoid them.

Several materialized out of thin air several feet in front of her, their arrows already flying towards her, and with a scream Venus flung herself to the ground, her arms thrown over her head. As she felt them fly overhead, she forced herself upright, pointing one index finger at the group while shouting, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!"_

A golden streak of energy burst from the tip of her finger and banished them into non-existence, but destroying the four demons did not bring her any satisfaction; the moment she killed one, two more would appear. It was as if all Genesis was trying to do was-

"Exhaust me," Venus whispered, and a thrill of both realization and fear went through her. "Of course." _So what do I do?_

The answer presented itself almost immediately, in the form of a painful kick to the small of her back. With a yowl of pain she flew a couple of feet through the air, but then curled into a tight ball and rolled onto the ground before springing to her feet and sprinting forwards at a speed to rival the arrows that pursued her, faster than she had ever gone before, determined to show Genesis that if she wanted her, she would have to catch her first.

She was running so fast that she barely noticed that it was growing light up ahead, the trees decreasing in number, spaced farther apart, so that more light was able to penetrate the jungle, and only realized what she was heading towards when it was too late. With a shocked gasp, Venus sprinted out into open air, and her arms and legs worked furiously for the split second that she hung, airborne, but then she was plummeting downwards, screaming at the top of her lungs, spinning end over end, the rush of roaring water filling her ears-

_Water? _Venus thought, bewildered, and, summoning all over her strength, she halted her senseless tumbling and held herself stiff, turning her head towards where the noise was loudest. Sure enough, a streak of cyan on her right showed her that thousands of gallons of bright liquid was pounding over the edge of the vast cliff she had just run off of, forming clouds of thick white vapour that lingered above the restless surface below.

Venus twisted herself into a streamlined, graceful diving position, and not a moment too soon; she hit the water with enough force to knock the little amount of oxygen she had managed to store from her lungs, and she sank down...down...down...the speed of her fall carrying her to the sandy, pebble-strewn bottom. Clawing at the water above her and kicking her legs furiously, Venus managed to start rising slowly upwards, forcing herself not to inhale, even though her lungs were screaming for air.

The whole time she saw, her head swivelled back and forth, burning eyes attempting to see past the maelstrom of bubbles she had created in search of the wild-looking demons, or worse. But they did not appear to have followed her, and if they had, they were lurking out of sight, camouflaged by the mass of bubbles that were still lingering about her. Gradually, her panic drained out of her, her heart slowed, but her demand for oxygen increased with every passing second, rapidly regenerating her fear, and soon, her limbs were barely moving, her brain was working sluggishly, every part of her body seemed to be on fire, screaming for air...

Venus knew that, even from the height she had fallen, the vast body of water was not so deep that she should have been swimming for as long as she, trying desperately to reach the surface. She knew she was not hallucinating, disoriented from her lack of air, for the reason for this slow torture came as readily to her mind as did her own name.

Genesis. _Will she never give up?_

With the iron core that came from being a Sailor Scout, however, Venus pointed at the rocky, sandy lake bottom beneath her and shouted, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"

The words came out in a mass of bubbles, slow and warped, and she inhaled a mouthful of water for her daring, but nevertheless, her arc of gold blasted out her hand and propelled her upwards so fast her ears popped. Genesis' enchantment could not contend with the power of her Crescent Beam, and Venus broke the water's surface mouth first, coughing and spluttering and gasping for breath. For a long time, it was all she could do to stay afloat and satisfy her body's demand for air, but slowly, as her lungs seemed to re-inflate, her breathing slowed, and she was able to focus on her increasingly difficult battle against Genesis' minions.

Wiping thick groups of sopping wet hair out of eyes, Venus turned through the water, her eyes combing the edge of the mossy cliff she had fallen off of, looking for signs f the demons. She saw them, about four hundred feet up, looking no more distinguishable than humanoid shadows from her position. If they saw her, they gave no sign; they simply stood there and gazed down at the water.

Not waiting for them to decide to come after her, Venus turned back around and swam towards the jagged, rocky shoreline, which was challenging enough, for the current was pulling her in the opposite direction. Through sheer force of mind, however, Venus made her way to the shore, but she was so exhausted by the time she made it there that she could barely pull herself up.

"Need a hand?" someone asked from above her.

"Thanks," Venus gasped breathlessly, reaching up a sodden gloved hand and allowing herself to be pulled out of water. Then she registered what had happened and looked up with a gasp of shock, nearly falling back into the water when she saw who had helped her.

Sailor Uranus stood before her, a faint smile upon her lips. The jungle had taken its toll on her – or more accurately, the demons – for every bit of her exposed skin was covered in scratches, long and short, deep and shallow, most of which were still bleeding. Bruises covered her arms and legs, and her uniform was so torn so badly it looked like she was wearing rags. There were shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep and she was covered in a mixture of blood, sweat and dirt, but she was Uranus all the same.

"Uranus!" Venus cried out, weak with relief at seeing another Soldier, throwing her arms around her, and Uranus did not pull away. "How in the name of the gods are you still alive?  
Uranus' smile widened, and she clapped her on the shoulder, saying, "It's gonna take more than a bunch of demons to finish me off." The Outer Scout extracted herself from Venus' grip, and she noticed that she was holding her talisman, the Space Sword, a glowing, golden blade encrusted with jewels.

"Have you seen the others?" Venus asked hopefully, but Uranus shook her head, and her heart sank like a stone in a pond.

"I was going to ask you that," Uranus murmured, turning away from her, and for a horrified second she thought she was leaving, but then she motioned for her to follow her, something Venus did gratefully. "How did you get here?"

"Sailor Teleport. You'd been gone for nearly a week, and we knew we either had to go after you then or not at all." Uranus threw her a questioning look, and Venus' heart sank as she realized that she had to acknowledge the horrible reality that they were trapped in. "Neptune was devastated when you disappeared," she said quietly, and Uranus' eyes widened at her cousin's mention. "We all were, but she was the hardest hit. For three days, all we did was sit in silence. Then Genesis attacked the city and we split into pairs to try to contain it. But Neptune...she went a little beserk and ran into the orb, and Jupiter followed her. And then...days later –" Venus' voice broke as the awful sense of loss that had consumed her when she felt Neptune and Jupiter lose their lives, and she couldn't continue.

She looked sorrowfully up at Uranus, who was holding herself rigidly, her eyes clenched shut and hands balled into fists at her side. "U...Uranus?" Venus whispered, taking a hesitant step towards the Outer Scout. "Uranus?"

"Neptune knew the risks," Uranus said suddenly, opening her dark eyes, which were remarkably hard, but her voice betrayed her facade. "There were never any guarantees we'd all make it out alive." She stared intently at Venus, who returned her gaze bewilderedly, but it almost instantly replaced by disgust.

"Your cousin lost her _life _for refusing Genesis," she whispered, horrified, feeling as though she were seeing Uranus for the first time. "And you don't even seem to care!"

Uranus looked at her, her expression one of sorrowful superiority. "As Sailor Scouts, our duties are to protect the Solar System from the threats that plague our galaxy, not to survive. I know you and Serena and the others think both are possible, but they're not. Venus, think about it," Uranus murmured urgently, seizing Venus' wrists as the Soldier of Love looked away briefly, appalled at what her fellow Scout was saying. She was showing much more emotion at her refusal to accept what she was saying than she had when she had learned of Neptune's death. "If all but one thing were to perish, what would you want to be saved?"

Venus thought about it, and slowly, her eyes lost their disgusted look. She looked sharply at Uranus, whose knowing expression made her feel certain she knew what she was thinking. _The Earth, _she had thought, without hesitation. _And that starts with, and ends with, Sailor Moon._

Uranus nodded, smiling humourlessly. "Our planets are all cold and lifeless, albeit for the Earth. Maybe if it was another planet, much less hope would rest on Serena's shoulders. But it's not; all of the Outer Scouts knew, from the moment we were reunited, that sacrifice was inevitable if we wanted to protect Sailor Moon from Genesis. And the same goes for every battle we've ever fought in; our duty is to protect the most important thing that can be salvaged from chaos, even if it means forsaking everything else in between.

And at last Venus understood what Uranus was trying to say, even though she did not like it. The Outer Scouts though sacrifice was a necessary possibility and was almost always necessary, and would make no exceptions as to what was lost. _Look at Uranus herself, _Venus thought sadly, looking at her companion through new eyes. _She wouldn't even spare her cousin._

"But you're wrong," Venus blurted out, and Uranus raised her eyebrows. "we've triumphed before without sacrificing lives. Think of Queen Beryl...of Nehellenia...even against Pharaoh 90, we all managed to make it out alive. You don't have to abandon people, Uranus. You just need to believe in Sailor Moon."

Uranus shook her head stubbornly. "Not this time. Lives have already been lost, and not just Neptune's and Jupiter's. Genesis has claimed more than five million souls already, and with no Sailor Soldiers protecting Earth right now, that number has probably gone up. And we can't recover those now; once we kill her, those lives will go with her. Will hope in the Moon Princess be enough to save them?"

As if to emphasise her point, two sharp, stabbing pains savaged her heart, accompanied by a mass of indescripable agony, agony that could not be induced through physical torture or insults. Venus gave a little scream and collapsed onto her knees, doubled over in pain, while Uranus' Space Sword clattered onto the ground beside her as its owner struggled to remain upright.

_No, _Venus thought, the word echoing throughout her tortured mind. _No. How can she keep killing?_

"Two more Soldiers!" cackled Genesis' voice, seeming to come from all around them, colder than a thousand shards of ice, more venomous than a cobra, and Venus' stomach to plummet horribly. "So in celebration, I'm going to make it twice as hard for you to survive!"

Uranus swore violently, snatched up her talisman and sprinted past Venus. For one terrifying moment, she thought she was leaving her behind her, but then the Soldier of Sky threw her gaze over her shoulder and shouted, "Come _on!" _, and Venus sprinted after her.

It was difficult enough not to slip on the treacherous, jagged black rocks when walking, let alone running for your life, but even in the desperateness of the situation, Venus could hardly fail to notice just how fast Uranus was, her shoes barely touching the ground as she flashed over the rocks towards, she realized, a hole in the mossy rock face wide enough for her to crawl through.

And then, as they slid precariously to a halt in front of the hole, Venus heard faint splashes of disturbed water sound from behind her, prompting her to whirl around, breath catching in her throat. The wild blue demons seemed to have overcome their reluctance to go into the water, for they were now diving in twelve at a time and, in some cases, swimming powerfully towards them.

Her heart hammering against her chest, Venus spun back around just in time to see Uranus hurl herself headfirst through the hole. Venus took a running leap and caught the top of the hole with her hands, using her momentum to propel herself feet-first after Uranus.

The interior was dank and dark inside, not to mention slime-coloured and rocky. It slid steeply downwards and so Venus, using every last fibre of her being to keep herself from screaming in terror, clamped a hand over her mouth and clenched her eyes shut – which made absolutely no difference in the darkness – as she rocketed helplessly downwards, the loud whistling of speed-induced winds deafening her to any sounds pursuing demons might have been making...

The good thing about going so fast was that it was over quickly; in what seemed like no time at all, Venus shot out of the end of the tunnel and into the brightly lit humidity of the jungle. She flew through the air so fast that it was pure luck that she was able to stop herself; unable to contain her screams any longer, she relinquished all control over her muscles, prompting the rush of roaring winds to yank her arms above her head, causing her to accidentally catch a hold of a branch. She swung like an acrobat into standing position atop it, gasping for breath-

Someone dropped down from the branch above her, and she automatically screamed; a gloved hand clamped itself around her mouth to stifle the sound and Uranus hissed, "It's _me. _You gotta stop screaming or it'll blow our cover!"

Venus pulled Uranus' hand away and whispered, "Sorry, this place is messing with my –"

"_LOOK OUT!" _shouted Uranus, and so fast that Venus had no idea how it happened, she found herself pinned against the ground with Uranus on top of her. Without hesitation, the latter leapt to her feet and pulled Venus up with her, withdrawing her lethal golden blade as she did so. The demons were already materializing around them, but Venus and Uranus had already leapt into action, the Soldier of Sky mentally conveying her plan to her at light-speed.

_They never stop coming, _Uranus explained, while Venus ducked and dodged around the demons' crushing blows. _Believe me, I know. Genesis' goal is to exhaust us, I'm almost certain of it, that way she can subdue us without having to raise a finger. I'm sure she's just loving how much we're struggling right now._

_Only use your powers when absolutely necessary; all we have to do is stay out of their reach, and we'll be okay._

_And if we get separated?" _Venus demanded, grabbing a bow out of an attacker's hands and leapfrogging over another, snagging a quiver of arrows in the process.

_Then we get separated, _Uranus answered firmly. _The goal is to stay alive long enough to get to Genesis._

_How exactly do we do that?_

_I've been trying to figure that out all week. _At these words, Venus faltered in her counterattacks, nearly getting hit by a speeding arrow in response to her lapse in concentration. There was no great plan. Uranus had not figured out how to escape the nightmare they were both trapped in, and if she, who was almost as smart as Mercury and had been here for almost a week, had failed, then it was doubtful they would ever get out of this horrendous reality. Alive, at least.

_Don't think like that! _Uranus shot at her furiously, having heard Venus' thoughts, her repulsion and anger coursing through her as if it were the Inner Scout's own. _It's not like I've had time to think! I've been running day and night, trying to stay alive, Venus! What good is a plan, no matter how brilliant, if we're dead?_

Though she did not respond, Venus' feelings were answer enough; Uranus' reasoning made perfect sense, impossible to argue with. They had to be alive to make a plan, and then stay alive long enough to execute it.

But staying alive was becoming increasingly more difficult to do; the savages were coming at them from all sides, outnumbering them ten to one. She could feel her barely-there energy seeping away from her, feel her exhaustion creeping in on her like the looming shadow that was Genesis, feel her body crying out for rest, and yet she kept fighting, her adrenaline the only thing keeping her from collapsing on the spot.

Venus aimed a punch at one of the native's face, but her opponent ducked out of the way while another seized her from behind in an iron grip, crushing her arms to her sides as she was lifted bodily into the air. The woman she had tried to punch in the face unleashed a feral snarl and lunged forwards, talon-like nails gleaming in the sunlight, but with a wordless cry of denial, Venus lashed out in a hard kick that connected with the demon's face, sending it hissing backwards, trailing blood. Using her momentum from her kick, Venus flipped backwards and catapulted herself over her captor's head, landing heavily upright on the demon's blind side. She crouched low to avoid an arrow that had been aimed with unnerving skill at her head and then stuck out on leg, twisting around sharply to trip an advancing demon. As she leapt to her feet something hard connected with her lower back and she sprawled onto the ground, a gasp of pain wrenched from her lips.

Forcing herself to ignore the sharp throbbing induced by the blow she had received, Venus somersaulted out of her sprawl, and not a moment too soon, for a demon who had been carrying a large wooden sphere landed in heavily behind her, plunging its sphere into the space her head had occupied seconds earlier. With a snarl, Venus spun around in a blind twist kick, but the demon skipped backwards to avoid it, retaliating in a powerful punch that Venus caught with her hand to block, forcing the demon off balance. Immediately, she kicked it hard in the stomach, but the demon caught her leg and flung it upwards, launching her into a hazardous flip, but her other foot caught the space underneath the demon's chin with crushing force. She felt the bone shatter.

Venus landed unsteadily on her feet and gathered her senses just in time to see four demons sprinting at her from all sides. Panicking, she leapt upwards and, by the tips of her fingers, managed to grasp a hold of a taught vine that had been hanging above her, drawing her knees into her chest as she did so. The demons who had been attempting to surround her slammed into each other with agonized yells and fell to the ground in a confused heap of thrashing limbs and scratching nails, which suited her just fine. Venus dropped back to the ground, breathing heavily, and realized, in a split second that was stretched into an eternity, that the demons seemed to have been communicating, seeming to realize that she was too skilled in close-quarters combat for them to pose a real substantial threat to her, and so they had formed a vast group in front of her, a fleet of arrows trained upon her frozen form, making her feel as though a bright spotlight had suddenly been thrust upon her.

_Oh no._

The air was suddenly thick with flying arrows, the twang of thirty taught bowstrings being released racing behind the fleet of airborne death. With a wild gasp, Venus did what she was becoming very adept at doing; dodge. Eyes narrowing in concentration and feeling as though the arrows were hurtling towards her in slow motion, Venus twisted and rolled, cartwheeled and back flipped, simultaneously hurling herself onto the ground and leaping upright in a springing backwards somersault in an effort to stay alive. Not for nothing, she found herself thinking, had she managed to stay alive as long as she had as Sailor V, where she had no other Soldiers to help her combat Nega forces.

And then she had done it, against all rationality, she had cleared the mass of arrows with only a few shallow cuts gained in the process, and so jubilant was she at the small victory that she turned her back on the group of dumbstruck demons that had unleashed the arrows upon her, catching sight of Uranus' fight for the first time.

The swiftness of her dodges, the crushing speed of her attacks and the deadly calm manner in which she operated left no doubt in Venus' mind that the Outer Scout could continue fighting forever and would not suffer injury. Her gem-encrusted Space Sword flashed through the air so fast that it was reduced to a gold and silver blur, and the demons brave – or perhaps stupid – enough to approach her were immediately banished in cracks of white light, and arrows that others launched at her from afar were deflected with metallic clangs by her blade, actions that seemed to cost Uranus no effort when she completed them.

Awe and envy coursed through her, and she paid for it by having two sets of cold, clammy hands seize her from behind and throw her bodily into a tree. Tiny bursts of light erupted before her eyes as she slammed into the unforgiving, rough surface of the tree trunk, the back of her head throbbing angrily, screaming in protest to this sudden explosion of pain, the edges of her vision had been turned black, the world was a mass of dizziness, and it was all she could do to keep herself conscious.

As if from very far away, she heard Uranus shout, "SAILOR VENUS, _MOVE!" _but the most she could do was open her eyes. She saw Uranus sprint towards her, her face a terrifying portrait of fury, and her blade sliced through the demon that had been approaching her like it was nothing but air, causing the woman to let out a blood-curdling scream before vanishing in a burst of white light. Uranus reached out to pull her to her feet, but one of the blue demons appeared between them and rammed into the Outer Scout with the force of a small bomb exploding, sending her flying backwards, but before she could slam into a tree trunk, another native had caught her, crushing her to her torso by gripping her by the throat in the crook of her elbow, pressing a crude stone dagger against it as she did so.

Shocked into awareness, Venus let out a strangled cry and leapt to her feet, loading the bow she had stolen from a demon earlier with four arrows, but the demon closest to her snarled in a rough, somehow feline voice, "Stop!"

Stupidly, Venus did, though she kept the string of her stolen bow taught. The woman who was restraining Uranus let out a note of wild laughter, her slanting yellow eyes flashing, and she hissed, "Drop your weapon!"

When Venus did not move, albeit for her eyes widening ever so slightly out of fear, the women pressed the dagger against Uranus' throat so hard that a trickle of blood seeped out from beneath it, wrenching a gasp of pain from the Outer Scout's lips, while the demon screamed, "DROP IT OR YOUR FRIEND DIES!"

The jungle had gone deadly quiet, and Venus felt as though every eye of every living thing in the forest had its eyes fixed upon her as she let the bow slip from between her fingers, falling onto the ground with a soft thud. The demon restraining her companion smiled, displaying bared, lethally sharp yellow teeth, and opened her mouth to speak, but Uranus beat her to it.

"VENUS, _RUN!" _she shouted, clawing at the demon's iron grip on her throat, and it was a miracle she was making any sound at all. "REMEMBER WHAT I SAID BEFORE? THE ONLY LIFE THAT METTERS IS THE ONE THAT CAN SAVE US ALL!"

"Shut _up!" _screamed the demon holding her, and she made to slit her throat, but Venus, struck by a sudden inspiration, snatched up her bow at the speed of light, aiming it at the demon as she screamed, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!" _

The moment she unleashed the taught string, the four arrows transformed into streaks of golden light, one that slammed into the demon closest to her, while another knocked the stone knife out of the demon's hand, the remaining two striking Uranus' captor, who exploded in a flash of white light.

"URANUS WORLD _SHAKING!" _shouted Uranus, who slammed an orb of topaz light onto the ground, forming a shallow gorge in the grass, but more devastatingly, the orb tore through the chests of nine of the demons and eliminated them in a burst of golden-white.

"Let's go!" Uranus yelled, and the two of them sprinted away from the gorge, their hope and resolve renewed, expectantly awaiting the next set of challenges ahead of them.

"Thanks," Uranus told her, and Venus looked up at her in surprise, to see the Outer Scout smiling gratefully, gingerly passing her fingertips over the shallow cut the demon had made in her throat.

"If I hadn't messed up, you wouldn't have needed saving," Venus said apologetically. "But you're welcome, anyway."

No sooner had she finished speaking then several arrows shot overhead, and they both threw startled gazes over their shoulders, to see that, as unrelenting as ever, about twenty of the electric blue natives were pursuing them, getting ready to fire another fleet of arrows upon them.

"Quick!" Uranus cried, popping out of the somersault she had flung herself into to avoid a group of arrows that had been aimed her. "Give me that bow!"

Venus immediately tossed her the large wooden bow, almost instantly followed by the eight remaining arrows in her stolen quiver. With the skill of a practiced archer, Uranus loaded the bow and launched three arrows at once, all of which buried themselves into approaching demons. Sensing that the Outer Scout had the situation under control, Venus turned back around to make sure that they weren't in danger of running to a mass of demons that may have appeared before them, but then, with a little gasp of horror, saw that the harsh reality of their situation was much worse.

"URANUS, _STOP!" _Venus screamed, but it was too late; they were both running too fast to slow down, and so they plunged helplessly over a newly-materialized cliff, Genesis' malicious laughter ringing in their ears.

One glance told her that they would not survive the fall; a thousand feet below, jagged, unforgiving black rocks covered the ground, fatal even from a lesser height. Instinctively, Venus grabbed Uranus' hand and, throwing her hopes up to the cloudless blue sky above them, screamed, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN!"

A long chain of interlocking golden hearts burst out of her outstretched hand and wrapped itself around a wide rock protruding out of the sandy brown rock face. A searing pain tore through her shoulder as they jolted to a halt, her arm threatening to pop out of its socket, but, mercifully, it did not, and the pain was quickly dwarfed by indescripable relief.

"_Yes!" _Venus hissed, marvelling at how she had managed to cheat death again. She looked down at Uranus, her heart still pounding panickily in her ears. "Are you okay?"

Uranus' expression was one of utmost shock, and her grip on her hand was such that her fingers were likely to break. Knowing it was better that than releasing her, Venus looked away, analyzing their predicament, somehow calmed by Uranus' shock. They had fallen about twenty feet, and were tethered to life by a thin golden chain that could snap at any moment. Very tentatively, she yanked on her Love Chain, relief swooping through her when she realized that it was stronger than it looked. If they climbed up, they would surely be ambushed by demons, but the alternative was plunging to a certain, messy death.

"Okay," she breathed, testing her chain again. "We're going to -"

But her voice died in her throat, eyes widening in horror as they fell upon the sight above her; several demons had appeared at the edge of the cliff, staring down at them with almost curious expressions. Then, very slowly, as if doing to increase the torture it was putting them through, one raised its bow and aimed, with agonizing purposefulness, down at Venus' upturned face. Her heart stopped, then promptly burst into a death sprint, terror consuming her; if the arrow didn't kill her, the fall definitely would.

"Please -" she gasped, her eyes huge.

"That twisted little -" Uranus began, but then the demon let the arrow fly, and it hit, not Venus' face, but the part of her Love Chain that was tethering them to life, wrapped around the rock. With a metallic clang that was drowned out by their screams of infuriated terror, Venus and Uranus were plunged downwards, speed-induced winds roaring in their ears, hearts jumping into their mouths, stomachs dropping through their feet, hands still joined as they tumbled end over end, the demons wild laughter ringing in their ears, Uranus swearing at the top of her lungs-

And then, blackness consumed them, swallowing the pristine blue sky that seemed to have become their whole world. Venus felt her chaotic descent slow and then, quite abruptly, she froze, a cold stone floor materializing beneath her. Breathing in short, shuddering gasps, she pushed herself up off the floor, shaking from head to foot, feeling as though she would never get over the shock of what had just happened. Uranus, who had somehow managed to land on her feet, pulled her upright with their still-joined hands, muttering, "Where are we?"

Venus looked around them, and her hand flew to her throat, heart pumping horrified recognition through her veins. They were standing in a deserted marble corridor of awful familiarity, carpeted by thick golden fabric, lit only by electric blue torches. With her memories of her life on the Moon Kingdom returned to her, Venus could now compare how Genesis had leeched the palace of its beauty, for she knew that it had once been full of golden light and life and laughter, making its present appearance seem twice as sinister as usual.

"The...the palace," she whispered, her voice hoarse, barely audible, remembering that the last time she had been here, she, Mars and Mercury and very nearly lost their lives.

Uranus stiffened beside her, and she said, "So Genesis has decided to greet us at last."

And as abruptly as they had been transported from the brink of death to this torch-lit palace, two excruciating, stab-wound like pains attacked her heart, while a bitter cold swept through her body, knocking the breath out of her lungs, a pain that she had, as horrible as it was, become sort of accustomed to, though it made it no less horrible to endure. She felt as though two vital parts of her had been ripped out, leaving nothing but pain and aching loss in their wake. Unbidden, six different faces flashed through her mind, and with each one, a smaller, physical pain tore through her; Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn, their eyes closed and hair flying out behind them, and then, once the Messiah of Silence's face had vanished from her mind, a terrible sense of emptiness threatened to overwhelm her. Venus fell to her knees, tears pouring down her face, burning the places they passed over, while she thought, over and over again, _They're all dead, all of them. Genesis has won, she's killed them all!_

She clutched at the sides of her head with clawed fingers, shaking it from side to side, feeling as though the world had ended, and in a way, it had. There was no point of going on, of fighting against a monstrosity who had extinguished the lives of the Guardians of the Solar System, of everyone who had played such important roles in her life-

But then, her berated, sorrow-drenched brain registered one face that had not appeared in her vision. Serena, their last hope. The only one of the nine princesses they had managed to find, the Moon Princess...

_It's our duty to protect the only thing that can be salvaged from chaos, even if it means forsaking everything else in between. _Uranus' words rang through her mind, echoing throughout it, reigniting the flame of purpose in her life that had so recently gone out. Sailor Moon, the one who could save them all...

Sailor Moon, who was all alone in Genesis' realm at that moment-

And suddenly, it didn't matter to Venus that there was only the slightest chance that Sailor Moon had managed to make it to the Moon Palace. It only mattered that she stopped crying and got up off the ground to search for their leader.

"SERENA!" she cried, and with that, she took off at a speed that would put an Olympic sprinter to shame, deaf to Uranus' exasperated shout of, "What are you _doing?"_, oblivious to the fact that her Outer Scout companion was five times faster than she and would catch her faster than a gun could shoot a bullet.

As she skidded around the corner, she felt Uranus slam into her, and her gloved hand caught her arm and held it fast, spinning her around to face her. "Where are you going?" she hissed, exasperation and anger etched upon her face, and in the flickering torchlight she looked rather frightening.

Venus fought for a moment, but then realized how ludicrous it was to be doing what she was doing, and her arms fell limply to her sides. Not only was her quest reckless and moronic, she was searching for someone who's whereabouts were unknown and, if she were honest with herself, likely to stay that way.

Her ashamed expression was a signal to Uranus that she had returned to sanity, and she released her arm in favour of pacing restlessly back and forth. "You said this is 'the palace'," Uranus said, acting as though her outburst had not happened. "Is this where you encountered Genesis before?"

"Yes," Venus whispered, closing her eyes as if to shield herself from the terrible memories of their last meeting. "We're in the Moon Kingdom right now."

"And where did you meet her?"

Venus opened her eyes and met Uranus' intense stare with a pleading look on her face. "I don't know, we got caught by one of her servants, he teleported us to where she was. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a...a throne roo -" she broke off, and her eyes widened in horror. "Uranus, we don't have a plan! We can't fight Genesis blindly; she'll kill us in a second!"

"I'm waiting for one," Uranus said calmly, her stare intensifying. "What are her weaknesses?"

"I-" But Venus stopped suddenly, for this was a question she could answer. "You have to take her by surprise. It makes her unbalanced...it opens up room for more attacks...She also hated it when we taunted her about her defeat," she added in an almost thoughtful voice, and Uranus nodded, her eyes unfocusing slightly.

"So if we remind her of Queen Serenity...or that last encounter in the Moon Kingdom...or when you and Mars and Mercury escaped from her..." Uranus looked up suddenly. "How _did _you hurt her that badly before? So that you could escape? It's not like Mars and Mercury were there to help you, from what you described."

Venus ignored the possible insult. "Well...she possessed me," she whispered, shivering involuntarily. "But I sort of...I don't know...threw her off...and then I attacked her, but since she was still sorta controlling me -"

"You attacked her with her own power," Uranus finished for her, a wry smile twisting itself upon her lips. "Smart."

Suddenly, Uranus' head whipped around, and she stood stock still, like a dog on a fox's scent. Without so much as a word to Venus, she sprinted around the corner she had held Venus back from taking, and, after a split second of shock, the Soldier of Love followed her.

_What did she hear? _She wondered, heart pounding uneasily in her chest, trying without success to catch up to her companion. And then, from up ahead, she heard something that made her blood run heart stop.

"Mars! Mercury!"

It was Sailor Moon, her voice sounding jubilantly from around the corner up ahead. She cried out the names of the other missing Soldiers and Venus, hardly daring to believe her ears, straining to her the answering calls from her friends, sped around the corner, only to skid to a confused halt.

Serena was standing with her back turned to her and Uranus, facing six creatures that Venus knew immediately were not the other Sailor Soldiers. The six looked like Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune and Saturn, except they seemed to be constructed from the same solid smoke her shield was, albeit each of them were composed of onyx black, their eyes haunting, poisonous yellow, translucent onyx flames coiling and furling as they rose off the edges of their bodies.

Bewilderment turned to rage as she looked into the pitiless yellow eyes of the non-Scouts, and, as one, she and Uranus shouted, "SAILOR MOON!"

Serena did not turn, nor had Venus expected her to; if she thought that those demons up ahead were the true Sailor Soldiers, she was clearly not in her right mind. One of the faux-Soldiers, the one that looked like Mars, raised its hands into the position that would enable her to use her Flame Sniper, and without hesitation, she cried, "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTY _SHOCK!"_

Her golden hearts slammed into Mars, who merely staggered back as though she had been slightly stunned, falling against the fake Saturn and Mercury. Sailor Moon, at last realizing their presence, turned to face them, shouting, _"NO! _LEAVE THEM ALONE, YOU NEGACREEPS!"

"Can it, Moon Face," Uranus muttered, sounding slightly unnerved at how the Moon Princess' eyes had become devoid of white and pupil, now merely deep blue orbs. The Soldier of Sky sprinted forwards and slung Sailor Mon over her shoulder, leapfrogging the fake Neptune and sprinting away with her, oblivious to her protests. Venus made to follow, but Mercury slashed her hands through the air and unleashed her Aqua Illusion, filling the corridor with a dense white fog, making it impossible to see a foot in front of her.

Knowing that the fog had not changed her enemies' positions, however, Venus dodged around where she knew Mars was standing, but the second she passed her, a flash of green lightning rent the fog apart, and she was hurled backwards with an ear-splitting scream of pain. Every part of her body burned in torturous agony as what she recognized as Jupiter's Supreme Thunder wrecked havoc through her, and she slammed into a blissfully cold surface, the collision positively painless in comparison.

"VENUS!" shouted Uranus, seemingly incredibly far away, but Venus, cracking her eyes open to see that the fog had lifted, thought, _No...Uranus...get to...Genesis...save Serena..._

"Not without you," snarled Uranus. "WORLD SHAKING!"

Her devastating attack was met with a violet orb of energy, launched at her by Pluto. The attacks rebounded off each other, one slamming into Uranus, the other speeding towards the fake Soldiers, who all had the sense to dodge out of harm's way, giving Pluto's Deadly Scream a clear shot at Venus.

Her scream mingled with Uranus' equally tortured one as her body burned with raw, untamed pain, pinning her against the wall, prisoner to torture. Over her screams, she heard someone's cold, ringing voice screech, "Pathetic, Sailor Soldiers! And to think, you are the guardians of this Solar System! Protectors of the pitiful planet Earth!"

Venus did not have the strength to identify who was taunting her; she only knew that a person who could speak about her pain in a maliciously jubilant voice was no friend of hers; she slid down the wall in a bruised, burned and bleeding heap, exhausted, throbbing with pain, collapsing onto the blissfully cool floor, and inch from death...and she was appalled to realize she was almost eager for it to come, to not have to endure any more...

But then, her mind was seized by the image of the world from Serena's perspective, who had been dropped as Uranus' World Shaking had rebounded upon her, and experienced and inner turmoil comparable only to the feelings she had experienced when Genesis had possessed her. She felt as though she were two different people trapped inside the same body, each mentality struggling for control of her body, for supremacy over the other.

Serena looked between the crumpled Uranus and motionless Uranus, fighting against the enchantment that shrouded reality, masking the fact that she was standing in a cold, foreboding corridor, surrounded by demons who would kill her in an instant, her only remaining friends teetering to the brink of death, making her believe that she was still standing in that sunlight forest, her six fellow Soldiers – minus Venus and Uranus – standing before her.

_That's Venus and Uranus who those freaks just attacked! _Her heart screamed at her, while her subconsciousness reeled at the harsh reality she was trapped in. _You've got to help them!_

_What are you talking about? _Her conscious mind hissed, trying to shove the struggling part of her into submission. _Mars and the others just saved you from a pair of vicious demons! You owe them your life!_

Overwhelmed, she seized the sides of her head and shook it vigorously, struggling to stem the flow of anguished tears that were flowing down her cheeks. "What's – w-wrong...with me?" she panted, confusion threatening to overcome her.

_Come on, Sailor Moon! _Venus encouraged her weakly, each word costing her impossible effort. _Follow your heart! Fight her off!_

_Genesis...isn't stronger...then you, _Uranus declared, her mental voice no louder than a whisper. _You can...beat her, Moon Face!_

The two fed the last of their energy to their leader, positive forces that, with any luck, would free her from Genesis' control, praying that she would not use it against them. Venus' mind left Serena's, and she was horrified at how weak she had become, at how she had to fight for each breath, knowing that if she gave up, she would never fight in another battle again.

And then, suddenly, amazingly, Sailor Moon shattered the agonizing silence that had fallen upon them with a scream of, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Followed almost instantly by a shout of, "MOON GORGEOUS MEDIATION!"

An explosion of noise and multicoloured light forced Venus' eyes open, and she was just in time to see a tidal wave of opalline light come crashing down upon the fake Sailor Soldiers, triggering six smaller explosions of red, blue, green, black, turquoise and purple light, adding to the chaotic din. When the chaos that was the light and noise dispersed, Sailor Moon was revealed, her Moon Rod in held above her head, breathing as heavily as though she had just run a marathon.

"V-Venus!" she gasped, her eyes – which were mercifully returned to normal – widening in horror as they fell upon the collapsed Soldier of Love, tripping over her own feet as she sprinted forwards. "Oh no, _oh no!"_

She fell to her knees at her side, and Venus reached a violently trembling hand out to touch her brooch. "I-it's okay...Sailor Moon," she whispered, attempting to smile, but she could only manage a tortured grimace. "It wasn't y...your fault."

"No, Venus, _no!" _sobbed Serena, as Venus' hand fell away from her, strength utterly gone. She raised her Moon Rod, hand trembling so violently it was amazing it did not slip from her grip, and whispered, "Moon Healing Activation!"

A beam of soft pink light hit Venus squarely in the face, and its warmth spread through her like a flame, banishing her pain and weariness, reigniting her desire to live, replenishing her depleted hope. Venus blinked in amazement at this sudden transportation from mortal peril to where she was now, pushing herself upright, her stunned gaze passing over her unscathed arms, feeling her scratchless face with trembling fingers. With a dry sob, Serena flung her arms around her neck, spluttering, "Oh, _Venus!"_

Venus returned her embrace, intending to respond, but her half-formed thanks died in her throat as she caught sight of Uranus, splayed against the wall, with a jolt, and she cried, _"Uranus!"_

She and Sailor Moon leapt upright as fast as if they had been electrocuted and sprinted down the corridor towards their friend's unmoving form, hoping against hope that she was not dead. "Moon Healing _Activation!" _Serena cried when they were within range, pointing her Moon Rod at Uranus, desperation etched upon her tear-streaked face. The resulting beam of pink light ran down the Outer Scout's form in a bright current, healing her innumerable wounds. As it vanished from her boots, Uranus' laboured breathing became slow and deep, and her eyes fluttered open. Surprisingly oriented, she took Serena's outstretched hand and used it to pull herself up, muttering, "Thanks, Moon Face."

"Oh, Uranus, I'm so sorry!" wailed Serena, but Uranus put her hand to her blabbering lips, shaking her head.

"It's not your fault at all, Serena," she murmured, tossing her short blonde hair out of her eyes. "And even if it was, I wouldn't waste my time getting mad at you. Venus' words are holding truer than I thought; we're all allies now, and, as much as I hate to admit it, that means I'm going to hold my temper."

Both Sailors Venus and Moon laughed, but it died away almost instantly, for it sounded shrill and unnatural in the gloom of the palace hallway. Despite the darkness, however, despite the evil looming over them, a glowing feeling of hope had erupted inside each of them, encircling the three remaining Soldiers in a protective circle. They were as united as they could be right now, having achieved what the Inner Scouts had been striving for all along; unity, which was something Genesis did not have a hope of taking away from them.

_Mars...Mercury...Jupiter...Neptune...Pluto...Saturn, _Venus found herself thinking, sorrow coursing through her as she listed off the names of each of her vanished companions. _We will avenge you. Genesis picked the wrong Soldiers to leave alive._

And it was true; Uranus, the strongest of all of them, had proved herself an astonishingly formidable opponent for surviving as long as she had, without assistance, in the illusionary jungle. Sailor Moon, protected by the power of the Silver Crystal, whose power seemed to know no bounds, was the only princess they had managed to find, but was also the one who was most likely to be Genesis' undoing, aided as she was by her eternal bravery and determination. Venus herself had, in what she viewed as a huge victory, had managed to unite the Inner and Outer Scouts, and was the only one of the three who had faced Genesis, alone for that matter, and had come out of the battle unscathed.

The leaders of the Inner and Outer Scouts, under the guidance of the Moon Princess, were the only chances Earth had left.

_Three blonde warriors, _Venus thought, a wry smile twisting her lips, a smile that almost instantly vanished as a horrible thought struck her. _What if Genesis has saved us for last because of our roles as leaders? Is the three of us, alone, somehow part of a malicious plan the Dark Queen had created? What if we're playing exactly into her hands right now?_

_If it is, _said a grim voice in her head. _Then there's nothing we can do about it. United we shall stand, or we won't stand at all._

But united will we fall?


	12. Fear! The Shattered Dreams of Soldiers!

The palace was utterly silent. It was as though its every inhabitant had learned that the Dark Queen's three remaining foes were lurking within its corridors and was intent upon escaping their superior's wrath.

Venus, Serena and Uranus all nodded at each other, knowing that the moment they had been waiting for had finally come, and yet Venus felt as though she were lingering in a dream, a sense of complete unreality lingering about her; she had known all along that somehow, she would end up facing Genesis again, but now that the moment had come, she was unsure whether or not she wanted the face off with the Dark Queen to occur. Sailor Moon seemed to be sharing her thoughts, for she whispered, "Don't you think that...that we might be...well, outmatched? After she nearly k-killed us with those demons?"

Uranus' mouth curved into an indignant snarl, looking mutinous at Serena's doubts in their capabilities. "It doesn't matter," she growled, grasping the Moon Princess by the shoulder. "The only thing we can do is make Genesis pay for that little stunt."

Venus nodded in agreement, though her mind was far away, transported back at Uranus' words to how the demons had used the powers of the Sailor Soldiers she had killed. In eliminating them, had she gained their abilities too? Were they facing the forces of fire, lightning, water, the underworld and the ocean on top of Genesis' already impossible amount of energy? Her stomach turned cold at the thought of Saturn, whose power was capable of destroying a planet, now on the Dark Queen's side...

"We're the only ones left," Uranus said, tearing Venus away from her thoughts. "The only hopes Earth has left." Her eyes flashed to Sailor Moon's face and away so fast that she wasn't sure it had happened. "Venus, you were right in saying that we had to join sides; Genesis has proven herself to be far more dangerous than all the other tyrants we have faced put together. Our union is the only thing we have going for us."

But the same thought rang through their minds, accompanied by thrills of fear. _But will it be enough?_

"Of course it will!" Serena cried, her eyes fierce. "It's got to be!"

"Serena," Venus said suddenly, taking her hands in her own. "You can't show any mercy towards Genesis, because she definitely won't be showing any to you. She killed -" her voice trembled and cracked, but Venus forced herself on, knowing there was nothing more important than getting her message across to her leader. "- all our friends, and they were not even at the heart of her being defeated. Imagine how badly she's going to want to kill you." She took a deep breath, holding Sailor Moon's over-bright eyes with an intense glare. "There's no going back for her, Serena...even if she had one to go back to."

Sailor Moon hesitated for the merest fraction of a second, then nodded, but even this seemed to cost her some effort. Uranus noticed this, too, and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could begin to challenge their leader, the floor gave away beneath them and they plunged down into icy-cold blackness, Venus and Serena screaming in absolute terror-

Something as cold and strong as iron caught Venus around the waist and yanked her back through the darkness at a terrifying speed, cold and claw-like and horribly strong. Her scream was cut off as she slammed into a hard stone wall with crushing force, and a gasp of pain escaped her lips, white spots of light burst into existence before her eyes, accompanied by an explosion of throbbing, relentless pain in the back of her head where it had collided with the wall.

The thing around her waist was growing, travelling up her body as though moulded by an invisible hand, pinning her legs to her sides and binding her legs together as it enveloped her from the neck down, painfully tight. She struggled against it, attempting to force her arms away from her sides, but the cocoon around her merely tightened, wrenching a strangled gasp from her lips, air rushing from her lungs.

"V-Venus?" someone whispered from her right, sounding as though they were having trouble getting the words out.

"Uranus!" Venus gasped out, her rib cage groaning in protest as she forced it to expand, turning her head towards the sound of the Outer Scout's voice, but it was impossible to see in the suffocating blackness. "Serena? Are you there?"

But Sailor Moon did not, or could not, respond. Panic clawed its way up the Soldier of Love's throat, and she turned and squinted into the blackness on her left, but she may as well have closed her eyes and attempted to locate her friend. And then, a horrible, overwhelming sense of realization swept over her, and Venus, her stomach dropping through the bottom of her cocoon, let out a horrified gasp, knowing that everything was about to go wrong; Genesis would have recognized Sailor Moon as the true Moon Princess, the biggest threat, and would have obviously imprisoned her separately from them, as she had done with her and Mars and Mercury when they encountered her before-

"Oh no," she whispered, mortified. _"SAILOR MOON!"_

And suddenly, the middle of the room erupted with a perfectly circular spotlight of luminescence. She could see Serena, on her knees, trembling at the edge of the circle and facing an ornate golden throne. The two were surrounded by six glowing, pulsating stones that hovered several feet in the air, red, blue, green, turquoise, black and purple. Venus stared at them, feeling slightly repulsed, as though the stones were unnatural things that had been torn out of their proper places, and felt a strange sense of déjà vu course through her.

_I've seen them before, _she realized, heart pounding loudly in her ears. _But...where?_

"Give them back," Serena moaned from the middle of the room, and Venus snapped back onto the dire situation at hand, to see Sailor Moon cradling her head in her hands, shaking with suppressed sorrow. "Just g-give them back!"

"Ah…now _that _will be rather difficult to do," a cold, sourceless voice answered, and Venus' pounding heart nearly stopped. Genesis was upon them at last.

Slowly, the Dark Queen materialized, transparently unreal at first, flickering and holographic, but she became solid all too soon. She sat on her golden throne, a throne that had once belonged to Queen Serenity, her chin propped up on the back of one hand and her expression mildly amused, as though she were having an interesting conversation with someone.

Both Sailors Neptune and Moon gave sharp gasps of horror, the latter backing up from her perch on the floor, but she refused to abandon her demand. "G-give them b-back!" she demanded in a choked whisper. "W-what have you d-done with…t-them?"

Genesis did not answer, though her eyes flashed and her lips curled into a snarl as she glared at Serena. "Moon Princess," she said softly, her voice one of deadly calm. "Tell me, how does it feel to be back on in your home world, about to die, as you should have done all those years ago?"

Serena gave a single choked sob, but did not respond. Venus was not, however, watching the middle of the room, though she was taking in every word the Dark Queen and Sailor Moon said. Her eyes were fixed upon Uranus' left side, which she could see because of the white light the spotlight trained upon the middle of the room threw upon them. Her hip was glowing faintly, and her jaw was clenched, her shoulder was moving up and down as though-

_You're cutting your way out? _Venus asked Uranus mentally, and Uranus, not faltering in her work, muttered, _Yeah._

_But as soon as you're free, the final battle will begin! _Venus warned her, her stomach clenching in terror at the thought.

_Better late than never, _Uranus told her, without looking up. _I'm waiting for the right moment, anyway._

_Which is -?_

_You'll know when it comes._

"Why are you doing this?" Sailor Moon cried suddenly, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet. "What's the point?"

Genesis' eyes narrowed, and so venomously that Serena recoiled, hissed, "How similar to your mother you are, Moon Princess. Believing in morality and compassion and _kindness. _Shouldn't you have realized that the good do not win? Haven't the deaths of your friends taught you anything?"

"Shut up," Serena whispered, so quietly Venus barely heard her, but when she registered what Sailor Moon had said, her blood turned cold.

Genesis' blood red eyes widened in fury. _"What?" _she spat, her voice shaking with rage. "How dare -"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Sailor Moon screamed, her hands balled into fists. Uranus and Venus both froze in their squirming, and Genesis let out an outraged scream before slashing her hand through the air and sending a mass of black energy flying at Serena.

"_SAILOR MOON!" _Venus and Uranus shouted in unison, but it was drowned out by Serena's heart-wrenching scream of pain as she was enveloped by a crackling cocoon of black lightning bolts. Genesis' hands were outstretched, feeding more energy from her palms into the cocoon that was torturing their leader, a terrible rage upon her face as she glared at the screaming Serena.

Venus had had enough, doing her best to unclench her hands, she yelled, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM –"

But that was as far as she got, for the invisible bindings around her suddenly tightened so painfully she could not breath. Beside her, Uranus gasped as her breath rushed out of her lungs, and the two of them fought fruitlessly against their bindings, while Sailor Moon screamed on-

"_Enough!" _Genesis screeched suddenly, and with a wave of her hand Sailor Moon was released, collapsing weakly onto the hard marble floor, her whole body shaking violently. The Dark Queen stormed away from her, her long ruby hair rippling like a hundred enraged snakes.

"Allow me to explain to you," Genesis whispered, stopping her restless pacing and turning her head halfway towards them. "Just how hopeless your little crusade is. Not even the power of _love-" _she sneered the last word. "- Serenity's favourite solution, can hope to compete with these!" She extended one hand forwards, palm up, and the six pulsating stones that were hovering mysteriously in the background shot forwards, drifting lazily above it.

"I don't know how we'll manage to beat you when you have a bunch of floating rocks on your side," Uranus snickered sarcastically, and a thrill of mingling fear at the Outer Scout's bravado and appreciation for it shot through Venus.

The air in the room seemed to drop several degrees as Genesis smiled icily up at them. "These are no ordinary rocks, you stupid girl. Each one of them represents the miserable little planets that you Sailor Soldiers used to call home."

Venus' breath caught in her throat, and she felt as though she had received a crushing punch to the stomach by an iron fist. _She doesn't mean –_

"The Planet Crystals," murmured Genesis, an almost loving caress in her voice. "Relinquished by the princesses who so foolishly guarded them, even after they realized they had no hope of beating me. Soon, I will have enough power to destroy Earth, and you can be sure that your stupid little solar system will follow!"

For a moment, there was stunned silence, silence that seemed to pulsate with the horror of Genesis' envisioned future of all that they knew, and then -

"Well, this changes things, doesn't it?"

Venus' head whipped around and she stared at Uranus, for it was she who had spoken, horror clawing its way up her throat, brain unable to comprehend what the Outer Scout had said. The Soldier of Sky was staring down at Genesis, her expression one of something remarkably like reverence.

Genesis' fist clenched around the delicate Planet Crystals, and she looked sharply up at Uranus, caution, incredulity and amusement all playing upon her face. "What's this?" she called, her eyes fixed upon Uranus' unreadable face. "A Sailor Soldier admitting defeat?"

"It seems pointless to die for a lost cause," Uranus told her, dark blue eyes just as unwavering from Genesis' face as hers were on her own. "Perhaps we could work something out?"

Genesis cocked her head to one side, and with a sharp flick of her wrist the glove-like binding around Uranus' form cracked open and she dropped to the ground, landing agilely on her feet. Venus' brain had stopped functioning, frozen in a mass of ice-cold horror, unable to comprehend what the words she was hearing meant. Her eyes were huge, fixed upon the Outer Scout who she had counted as her friend, mute with horror. She had saved Uranus' life, she had had her life _saved _by the Outer Scout, and yet there she was, offering to join Genesis, their sworn enemy, as she had been for the thousand-plus years that had spanned between Earth's future and their lives in the Silver Millennium. Was she so eager not to die that she was willing to side with the Dark Queen? What about the things she had said in the illusionary jungle? About protecting the one thing that stood as the difference between salvation and destruction? Did she think her life was more valuable than Serena's? Or than that of any other Sailor Soldier, any of those who had died fighting Lady Genesis?

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Venus shouted, hurling the words at Uranus like knives, willing them to pain her. "I TRUSTED YOU, AND YOU BETRAYED US! BETRAYED THE SAILOR SOLDIERS!"

Uranus did not flinch; she did not even acknowledge that she was speaking. She ignored Serena, who was forcing herself to get up off the cold marble floor, clutching at her left arm. Her eyes were fixed upon Genesis, who was considering her with a calculating expression on her face, as though debating whether or not to allow her to speak.

"I know what you want," Uranus announced, absolute certainty in her voice. "And I'll give it to you willingly, without a fight, if you allow me to live. To train under you, to become your servant!"

_She can't be serious, _Venus thought, the thought ringing throughout her horrified mind. Genesis, meanwhile, cocked her head to the side, a smile spreading across her face. "You jest, Sailor Uranus. Wouldn't an agent of love and justice prefer death over eternal servitude to me?"

Venus' mouth went dry, while her heart burst into a death sprint; Genesis had said 'eternal servitude' which made it sound like she had already made her decision.

"Maybe another agent would," Uranus allowed her voice cold and disdainful at the prospect. "But not me."

For a moment, there was silence, during which time Genesis' eyes did not leave Uranus' unblinking ones, and then, in a slow, careful voice, the Dark Queen whispered, "If that is your decision, Sailor Uranus, then I commend you for it. Come here and exchange your offer for your life."

Uranus took a step forward, a step that echoed around the deathly quiet throne room, but then Serena staggered forwards, blocking her path and gasping out, "U-Uranus…don't do this!"

"Get out of my way, Moon Face," Uranus said, in a tightly controlled voice.

"T-Think about what you're d-doing!" Serena pleaded, seizing the Outer Scout's wrists and staring imploringly into her averted eyes. "W-Why would you w-want…to j-join forces…with h-her?"

"Get out of the way," Uranus told her, restraint cracking slightly.

"What about the E-Ear -"

"Move, Sailor Moon."

"Michelle w-wouldn't want you t-to -"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Uranus yelled, and she grabbed Serena and flung her out of her path, so that she skidded along the marble floor with a scream of mingling terror and pain, coming to rest just outside the circle of light.

But the moment Sailor Moon had come to a halt, Uranus' voice sounded clearly throughout Venus' mind, urgent and firm. _There wasn't time to explain any of this before, _Uranus told her, her low, almost masculine voice slightly remorseful as she walked slowly and purposefully towards the expectant Genesis. _Because I knew you wouldn't listen to me unless I forced you to. This is all just an act. While I'm fighting Genesis, you need to free yourself and protect Serena from her. You need to run as soon as you get the chance. Don't worry about me, because if I go down, I sure as hell don't want to take the two of you with me._

Venus' eyes widened, and she opened her mouth, intending to shout out at Uranus, who had reached Genesis, but her voice had deserted her. She could only watch in mute horror as the deception unfolded below.

Genesis extended one hand, waiting for Uranus to place something in it. Sure enough, Uranus, incredibly, withdrew her senshipen. She raised it slowly, so that it was an inch above the Dark Queen's pale white hand, and then, quite abruptly, Pluto's words of warning rang through Venus' oddly blank mind. _Whatever you do, do _not _relinquish your senshipen to Genesis._

And then, as suddenly as the warning had rang throughout her mind, Uranus threw her power source high into the air, so that it rose as if in slow motion, twirling end over end, and at the same time, while Genesis' eye widened in horror as she realized she was being deceived, the Soldier of Sky pulled out her Space Sword and, with a wordless shout of rage, plunged it into the Dark Queen's heart.

Lady Genesis staggered backwards, staring uncomprehendingly at the golden hilt protruding from her chest, while Uranus jumped into the air, grabbed her senshipen and shouted, "URANUS ULTIMATUM POWER!"

A mass of rose petals obscured her falling, twisting body, and when they vanished, they revealed Uranus to be sheathed in a close-fitting black dress with a cut up one thigh. Venus could not understand what was going on, could not comprehend this startling change of events, or Uranus' strange new transformation; all she could do was watch as Uranus landed on her feet at the same moment Genesis wrenched the blade out of her and healed the fatal wound with a blast of purple light from her hand, in an action reminiscent of Saturn's strange ability to heal others.

_The Messiah of Silence's power, _the thought echoed throughout Venus' empty mind, adding to her horror. _Intensified._

Genesis was snarling inhumanely, enraged at Uranus' attempt to kill her, and then, lightning fast, she wrenched the blade out of her blood-stained chest and hurled it back at Uranus with blinding speed, but the Soldier of Sky ducked underneath her streaking talisman, and the moment it had cleared her head, she raised one hand above her head and clenched it around an orb of topaz light that had appeared there.

"URANUS WORLD SHAKING!" she shouted, slamming the orb of light upon the ground before her. Lightning fast, the topaz fear rocketed through the marble, a deafening roar renting the silence apart as it tore a shallow gorge on its way towards Genesis, who let out an almost inaudible gasp before crossing her arms in front of her face as if to shield herself from the attack, an act that caused Uranus' World Shaking to vanish in a burst of white light when it was four feet from the Dark Queen.

Uranus' victorious snarl vanished from her face as she saw that her attack had been thwarted, and then, suddenly, incredibly, she straightened out of her half-crouch and turned to look at Venus, who emitted a little choking gasp of horror at the Outer Scouts action.

_What are you doing? _Venus screamed at Uranus, unable to make her lips move. Their eyes met, Uranus' screaming at her to run, Venus' demanding that _she _run with her, but then, with a triumphant cackle that was drowned out by an laseresque explosion of noise, Genesis unleashed a streak of onyx light upon Uranus, who mouthed two words at Venus before it collided with her back.

_Kill her._

"_URANUS!" _screamed Venus and Serena, as the Outer Scouts limbs flung out to breaking point. A ring of violent green light exploded off of her, and suddenly, she had become an immobile stone statue of frightening realisticality, her mouth open in a scream of agony that no one could hear, yet still giving off an overwhelming aura, an aura that came with being an unbreakable, persevering fighter. Above her hovered a bright yellow stone, identical to the Planet Crystals had claimed in all but two colours.

Venus could sense that she was on the brink of an epiphany, but she could also sense that she would never have it if she and Serena did not run. Now.

_This is for you, Uranus, _she thought, throwing her best hopes up to the heavens.

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!" _she yelled, and at long last, the suffocating cocoon surrounding her shattered with an almost musical smash, as did the floor beneath her. As she plummeted downwards, Venus pointed at Sailor Moon, who was lying in the exact same spot Uranus had thrown her to, apparently frozen in horror, and cried, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN _ENCIRCLE!"_

Venus' chain wrapped itself around Sailor Moon just as she herself plummeted out of sight, forcing herself to keep her grip upon her end of her Love Chain vice-like as she fell through what she realized to be the entrance hall of the palace. Operating purely on some sort of adrenaline-based energy, Venus rolled onto her side as she landed, then jumped to her feet, turning to see Sailor Moon land heavily upright, still bound by her Love Chain, which vanished on her command.

"We've got to run, Sailor Moon!" Venus insisted, pulling on her last friend's arm, but the Moon Princess refused to move, tears leaking through her clenched shut lids. Venus' own sorrow was threatening to overwhelm her, but right now, she was a Sailor Soldier first and a teenage girl second, which meant dealing with her emotions later and taking drastic measures to alter Serena's.

"Do you want to end up like Uranus and the others?" she half-shouted, pulling hard on her arm. "Come _on _Serena, we've got to move!"

Her words, though harsh, had the effect she was looking for; with a single sob, Sailor Moon sprinted past Venus, her tears reduced to streaks that flew in her wake, and Venus followed her in a death sprint across the entrance hall, focusing only on the sound of their echoing footsteps, trying to drown out her sorrow with noise. They pounded through a delicately carved marble archway on their right, took a random turn left at the first fork in the dark corridor beyond, then streaked down a middle path, followed by two hard lefts and one right…

Knowing that she had led them into the bowels of the palace, Venus waited until they were so lost in the labyrinth of marble walls and wooden doors that their breath formed sparkling, crystalline clouds in front of her, and suddenly, unable to take another step, she rammed her shoulder against one of the doors, staggering unbalancedly inside while Sailor Moon tripped after her.

With a dry sob, Venus slammed the door shut and sank onto her knees, not caring about how cold the ground was, how her lungs were screaming in protest at the exertion she had just put them through, her head a chaotic mass of whirling, thoughts, each clambering to be dealt with first…

_Those Planet Crystals were the stones of everyone's senshipens, _she realized. _Uranus got that. Genesis got that. And Pluto knew that first. Did she also know that the Sailor Soldiers were Sailor Princesses? And if she did, why didn't she tell us? Didn't she _realize _that we were all united back on Earth, that we had a chance to make the prophecy Genesis feared so much come true? Didn't she _see _that we could have ended this battle outside the Space-Time Door? _And then, _If the others were all Princesses, how come they never mentioned it? Wouldn't Mars and Mercury have told me? Or did they not know who they were until they were faced with Genesis?_

Slowly, something like excitement built up inside her, though it took her a moment to identify it amidst the mass of sorrow that had consumed her. Venus reached a shaking hand into her skirt and pulled out her senshipen, her sobs subsiding into ragged breathing. Pausing while she attempted to remember the exact words Uranus had shouted, she raised her senshipen above her head and whispered, "Venus U-Ultimatum Power!"

Nothing whatsoever happened.

Venus's excitement went out like a match dropped into the ocean. Did this mean she was not a princess? Was she the only Sailor Soldier who was not both ruler and protector of her home planet? _It must, _a cruel voice in her head told her. _If it wasn't true, why didn't you transform just now?_

_Don't be idiotic, _snapped a reasonable voice in her head. _The Sailor Soldiers are all in this together. If one of you is a Princess, then you all are. You should have realized that when you remembered that Sailor Moon is also the Moon Princess._

_Then why didn't I transform? _Venus probed her thoughts anxiously, some of the desperate sorrow that had consumed her departing.

_Does Sailor Moon turn into Princess Serena whenever she feels like it? No. Maybe it only happens when you're faced with a huge crisis?_

_If this isn't a crisis, I don't know what is, _Venus thought grimly, picturing Uranus, doomed to stand as a stone statue for all eternity. _Or…is she? _Venus sat bolt upright as the thought struck her like a bolt of lightning, her dark blue eyes huge, unseeing. _Just because she's a statue_ _doesn't mean she's_ dead.

Drawing strength from this realization, from the glimmering possibility that not all hope was lost, Venus focused all of her energy on figuring out how she and Serena could reanimate Uranus, but all that came to her mind was the symbol of the Soldier of Sky. Confused and annoyed, Venus whispered aloud, "But that doesn't – _oh!"_

The answer presented it to the Soldier of Love like a ray of golden light hitting her in the face. The Planet Crystals.

The solution to their problem was, now that she thought about it, perfectly obvious, but was just as impossible as it was clear; Genesis now had the powers of Uranus, Mercury, Mars, Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn on her side, all of which they would have to contend with if they wanted to get anywhere close to recovering their friends' lives.

It would be a miracle if they managed to get Uranus' Crystal back from Genesis, and nothing short of agonizing death if they failed. Then again, who said there were any guarantees that they were going to succeed?

"Serena," Venus said firmly, determined to keep the fear and sadness from her voice. "We've got to go."

Sailor Moon, who was on her hands and knees, shaking with suppressed sobs, looked up very slowly, her eyes glazed with tears. Venus walked towards her and pulled her upright gently, keeping a steadying grip on her arms. "We can't sit around waiting for Genesis to find us. I have a plan, and if it works, there's a good chance that we'll be able to save Uranus and the others. But you need to trust me."

"O-Of course I t-trust y-you," Sailor Moon choked out, her arms trembling. "It's m-me I d-don't…trust."

"Don't say that," Venus said sharply, her eyes flashing, grip on her arms tightening briefly. "You've got to believe in yourself, Sailor Moon? What do you think kept the others going when they faced Genesis? Why do you think Uranus had the strength to do what she did? Because they know that you're going to triumph, Serena. They trust you. _I _trust you. We all believe in your power, Sailor Moon, and we know your pure heart will dominate Genesis' blackened one. All you need to do is have faith."

"Oh, _Venus!" _spluttered Serena, flinging her arms around her and pressing her face into her shoulder. "You're j-just as capable…as m-me! P-Promise me, whatever h-happens…we'll s-stay together until…u-until the end! Because I…I just can't s-stand to lose anyone else!"

Venus stared down at Serena's face, shining with tears, and considered how she was supposed to answer, when the door behind them was blasted violently off its hinges, knocking them both over. Immediately rolling out from underneath it, she sprang into a tense defensive pose and saw that a battalion of what looked horribly like a mass of humans was crowded before her, and judging from the wide, gaunt eyes, their blank expressions and pale faces, they were under some sort of spell.

With a snarl of outrage at Genesis using the people they were trying to protect to attack them, Venus shouted, "VENUS! LOVE AND BEAUTY _SHOCK!" _and unleashed a fierce mass of speeding, magically enhanced golden hearts upon the humans who, to her horror, were merely thrown limply backwards, like discarded ragdolls, and did not disappear.

Knowing that their non-vanishing meant something sinister, Venus started to run forwards, but at that same moment, Serena screamed, "GET _DOWN!"_

Immediately, Venus flung herself forwards, curled into a tight ball, and she collided with several pairs of legs, causing them to topple forwards like bowling pins. As she landed on the ground she rolled to the side, while Sailor Moon shouted, "MOON SPIRAL HEART _ATTACK!"_

Venus pulled out of her roll just in time to see a corkscrewing ribbon of sparkling pink light lash out of the room and impale at least half of the humans present, and Venus yelled, "Nice work, Serena!" for her attack, at least, had caused the people to explode in a mass of light.

As Sailor Moon came skidding out of the room, a human disentangled itself from the throng of people and launched itself at Serena, its hands glowing with black energy, but Venus screamed, "NO!" and flung herself forwards to meet it, twisting into a backwards mid-air kick and sending the human speeding backwards.

Still enraged, Venus twisted into a somersault before landing on her feet, only to be converged upon by a mass of humans, their sheer weight was enough to cause her legs to collapse beneath her, while dozens of thrashing limbs pummelled her, each punch, each kick an iron blow.

Struggling against the weight of the attacking humans, Venus heard Serena scream, _"NO, VENUS, N- ARGH!"_

With a horrified gasp, Venus saw that, through a space in the humans, a translucent, electric blue barrier had been erected between her and Sailor Moon, who had clearly been thrown bodily back from it, for her form was flying backwards through the air, cackling with bolts of energy-

Rage exploded out of Venus in the form of a blast of the same solid smoke that she had created to block the advance of Genesis' attacks on Tokyo, hurling the humans against the walls with such force that several slammed through them and continued on into parallel rooms, but she did not care; she had not suffered the deaths of all but one of her friends just to be crushed to death by a bunch of possessed humans. She had not fled from Genesis to be defeated by a stroke of misfortune. She was going to make sure that she and Sailor Moon made it back to the Dark Queen, and nothing was going to stop her.

Barely conscious of what she was doing, Venus pulled out her senshipen and shouted, "VENUS ULTIMATUM POWER!"

A sheath of glittering stardust obscured her form, and she felt her Sailor Soldier vanish, replaced by remarkably soft, light fabric, and abruptly, her energy capacity increased by tenfold, her depleted strength going above and beyond restored, her fears and uncertainties vanishing.

With a twirl Venus emerged from her cocoon of golden light, and faced the barrier between her and Serena with cold disdain; she had never seen a weaker-looking wall in her life. Pointing at the obstruction, she cried, "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM _SMASH!"_

Her arc of gold hit the barrier in the dead center, and with an ear-splitting explosion, tendrils of black sprinted across the glowing surface and caused it to vanish in a crack of green light. A feral smile upon her face, Venus ran forwards, stumbling slightly as she tripped over the skirt of her dress.

_Dress? _Venus looked down, and gasped in surprise; her flowing, pure gold dress trailed to the floor and seemed to emit a faint, untraceable glow. It felt as light as air, as smooth as silk…the gown of the Princess of Venus.

_I am one of the nine after all! _Venus thought, weak with relief, feeling idiotic as she thought of her doubts. Her face splitting into a smile, Venus looked up sharply, looking for Serena, to see her reaction, but she was not there.

"Oh no."

Venus' heart thudded to a stop, horror making time stand still, the silence pressing in on her from all sides, and then her heart burst into a death sprint; what had happened? _Where had she gone?_

"SAILOR MOON!" Venus screamed, running forwards, her feet barely touching the ground as she flew forwards, hoping against hope that she was just around the corner, merely out of sight-

Digging her heels into the ground and causing the gold carpet beneath her to slide into the wall, Venus looked wildly around the corner, and let out a wordless cry of agony that no form of physical torture could induce; Sailor Moon was not there, and in her heart, she knew that there had never been any chance of her being there. Genesis had separated them, intending to pick them off one by one, pouncing upon her chance to eliminate the incapacitated Serena when she had been thrown back from the barrier…

"IT'S NOT OVER YET!" Venus screamed, clenching her fists and summoning all of her powers of concentration. If this didn't work, however, even she was willing to admit that it was, in fact, over. "SAILOR TELEPORT!"

Incredibly, miraculous, and only because she was possessed with the power of a princess, Venus felt herself become a ball of glowing gold energy, and then she was streaking upwards, faster than the speed of light, her mind as blurred as she knew her body to be-

Almost instantly, she rematerialized, but even after all she had gone through to stop what she knew was about to happen, Venus was unable to keep herself from freezing at the sight of the scene before her; she was just outside the circle of light that was the center of Genesis' adopted throne room, and neither the Dark Queen nor Serena noticed her sudden materialization in the shadows. Eight stone statues stood like guardians around the outskirts of the circle of light, the eight Sailor Soldiers Genesis had already dealt with, captured and bound in princess form. Nearest to Venus were Pluto, Mercury and Jupiter, all frozen in various poses of offence and defence, but at that moment, there was no room in her head to think about them.

"I know there is still good inside you, Genesis," Serena was whispering, and Venus nearly screamed in disbelief; Sailor Moon was doing the exact thing she and Genesis had begged her not to, not just for her own life, but for the sake of their Solar System. "You can always revert to good. There is always a way back."

Genesis' eyes widened almost unnoticeably, and her voice betrayed the faintest hint of uncertainty as she scoffed, "There is no way back, Moon Princess. It's impossible."

"It isn't," Sailor Moon insisted, her voice honest, sincere. "There's good in all of us, Genesis. I can feel it inside you. There's still light inside you, despite what you think."

To Venus' utter amazement, Genesis' eyes softened, and for a moment she looked almost human. The Dark Queen then fell to her knees, long ruby hair falling into her face, and in a strained, begging voice, she gasped out, "Can you h-help me, M-Mon Princess? Would you?"

"Yes," whispered Sailor Moon, completely oblivious to the possibility that this was a trap. "I would."

"Then -" Genesis choked out, reaching up sharply to clutch at her heart. She struggled for breath for a moment, chest rising and falling heavily, and then she spoke in a voice layered with what sounded like a violent internal struggle, "T-The Silver Crystal..is the o-only…th-thing…that will s-set…me…f-free…"

Any doubt as to Genesis being an entirely evil being was banished from Venus' mind as she watched Serena withdraw the brooch that encased her Silver Crystal and extend it towards Genesis, and in a mortified whisper, she choked out, _"No."_

Genesis rose slowly, her long hair still concealing her face, and she reached one ghostly hand out towards Serena, towards the Silver Crystal…

"NO!" Venus screamed, and with a running leap, she flung herself at Sailor Moon, shoving her out the way so hard that she knocked Sailor Neptune over on her flight out of the circle-

Genesis let out a wordless scream of demonic rage, and suddenly, Venus' body exploded with pain, and she writhed and twisted and screamed as the power of fire, water, lightning, the ocean, sky, the undead and destruction berated her body, raging through it like a thousand hurricanes, turning her blood to acid, her skin burning, filling her with agonizing torment, making it impossible to think, to _breath-_

"SAILOR MOON, _RUN!" _Venus screamed out, and then the pain climaxed, so that she felt like someone had poured molten lava on top of her, even though such pain was unendurable, impossible-

"MORE, SAILOR VENUS?" screeched Genesis, and suddenly, the pain stopped, allowing Venus to realize the Dark Queen was holding her by the throat, her feet dangling above the ground. "OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO GIVE ME YOUR PRECIOUS PLANET CRYSTAL?"

It took all of Venus' strength to raise her head, and for a split second, her eyes met with Genesis' maddened ones, dark blue against blood red. Then, with an effort that felt like it might kill her, she panted, "Go…to…hell."

With an enraged scream, Genesis threw her from her, and Venus came to a crumpled halt between Mars and Uranus, unable to move. "DON'T -" bawled Genesis, her voice ringing with hatred. _"EVER – _CURSE – AT – ME!" She punctuated each word with a white hot burst of senseless pain, and Venus let out an ear-splitting scream with each one, her voice cracked, hoarse, all the while mentally pleading that Sailor Moon would have the sense to run –

And then, quite suddenly, Genesis bellowed, "ENOUGH!" and Venus raised her head just in time to see a streak of jet black light hit her full in the face. There was agonizing pain, added torture to the aftermath of the agony she had just endured, and then an awful dead feeling spread through her like a virus, infecting every part of her, draining her of strength, of energy, of _life…_and then Sailor Venus knew no more.


	13. Outmatched! Death of the Shining Blonde!

"_VENUS!" _screamed Sailor Moon, one arm outstretched towards the place where her last, best friend had been obscured by a flash of violent green light. She knew what would have happened to her, she had seen it when Uranus had been struck by that same bolt of cackling onyx energy, but she could not believe it, she would not believe it, Venus could not be dead, could not have left her alone –

But there she stood, unmoving, inanimate, flowing golden gown turned steely grey, billowing out around her in the aftermath of the explosion of light, both arms crossed in front of her face in a final attempt to protect herself, each hand forming the sign of love. Sailor Venus stood immobile between Mars and Uranus, and Serena realized with a jolt that that space had been waiting for her, just as there was one awaiting her between the Soldiers of Love and Sky.

A brilliantly glowing golden stone hovered above Venus' head, light emanating off it so brightly it seemed to be like a miniature sun. The planetary sign of Venus flashed across its flawless surface, and suddenly, that which her sorrow had been repressing barged to the front of her grief-consumed mind, screaming for her to understand the cryptic warning Pluto had given them all, an eternity ago, on Earth...

"_Do not surrender your senshipens to Genesis. You can be sure that it will be the last thing you ever do."_

Their power crystals were their Planet Crystals, the souls of their planets, talismans of the Princesses who were each both ruler and protector of their home worlds, supplying them with the necessary power to defend their solar system from evil. Just as she was the Moon Princess, it seemed, it was the destiny of every Sailor Soldier to be the ruler of their own worlds.

And hatred boiled up inside Sailor Moon, hatred so powerful that the outskirts of her vision turned blood red, maddened for a desire for revenge. _How dare she try to take that from Venus? A Planet Crystal to which she has no right? No, she's gone too far. That puffed-up monstrosity won't be getting any more power, not if I can help it!_

She was on her feet without knowing how she got there, and without thinking about what she was doing or the consequences of her actions, not caring that Genesis had the power of eight Sailor Soldiers on her side now, she sprinted towards the statue of Venus and closed her hands around the glowing Planet Crystal, pulling it close to her chest, its steady pulsing timed in perfect synchronization to the beating of her own heart. Then she turned to glare at Genesis, whose expression was one of shocked incredulity, and her hatred climaxed, too powerful to be contained. Producing her Moon Rod from nowhere, she twirled it expertly around herself and shouted, "MOON GORGEOUS MEDIATION!"

A burst of blinding, sparkling white light exploded out of her weapon, crashing down upon Genesis like a dry tsunami of deadly power, but, to her horror, the attack split into two, diverted from its path by a glittering, translucent lavender half-sphere of light the Dark Queen had conjured to protect herself, and the light of her Gorgeous Meditation quickly faded into oblivion.

Genesis smiled in an almost amused sort of way, an act that rooted Sailor Moon on the spot, paralysed with ice-cold terror. Her hatred had evaporated, her mind had gone oddly blank, and it was all she could do to keep from recoiling when Genesis fixed her with a malicious smile.

"Do you think that bangs and puffs of smoke will defeat me, Moon Princess?" the Dark Queen snarled, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. "When I'm more powerful than ever before? When I have the power of eight planets on my side?"

Sailor Moon's eyes narrowed as an odd surge of bravado went through her, and her hands clenched around the warm, pulsating little sphere that was Venus' Planet Crystal. Forcing herself to keep the fear from her voice, she said, "Seven, actually. And don't count on getting any more."

Genesis raised one long, thin eyebrow, an act that sent tendrils of fear running down her spine. "Let me show you how wrong you are, Sailor Moon." And without warning, the Dark Queen slashed her hand through the air, and a wave of pain unlike any Serena had ever experienced before, dwarfing even the stabs of agony she had felt with each loss of her friends, exploded from what felt like the very center of her body, and someone's ear-splitting screams were pounding against her eardrums. She was thrown back and forth through the air, slamming against closely-set walls of torture, burning alive one minute, feeling as though she were being immersed in acid the next. Agonizing bursts of onyx lightning assaulted her form, tears poured from underneath her clenched-shut lids, as the senseless pain, the burning, intolerable torture increased by tenfold, and the screams that savaged her ears intensified horribly, mingling with maniacal laughter of some undoubtedly sick fool who could look on at her writhing in agony and not try to help her. She could not think, could not breath or see or remember a life before this agony, she would surely die because of it, because no one could endure such pain and hope to live –

And yet she clutched on to one thought, a thought that was more of an instinct, a speck of rationality in her own personal hell: she kept her hands clenched around Venus' Planet Crystal, refusing to break, to beg, determined to force Genesis to wrench it from her hands –

After an eternity of relentless, unyielding torture, it ended. Serena collapsed in against the floor in a limp, shaking heap, revelling in its mercifully cold surface, barely conscious, breath coming in short, ragged spurts. She felt as though her bones had been replaced by jelly, jelly that throbbed in agony with each second she spent in the living world. And yet she still clutched on to Venus' Planet Crystal, regarding it as the thing tethering her to life, like a drowning person regards a life raft. Unable to move, unable to think, she could only lie, curled into a tight ball and listen as the sound of slow, ominous, clinking footsteps grew louder and louder as they approached her, then ceased. And then –

"Pathetic," whispered Genesis, her voice ringing with triumph. "The champion of love and justice can barely survive a little bit of pain." And then Serena felt a foot connect with her fifth and sixth ribs, causing a dull, throbbing pain to explode into life where it hit, hardly anything compared to the torturous agony the Dark Queen had put her through, but painful all the same.

The air rushed from her lugs, and with a strangled, whimpering gasp, Sailor Moon yanked her knees up to her chest, eyes clenched shut. Genesis let out a disdainful note of bone-chilling laughter, and then seized her by the hair and dragged her upright, snarling, "Get up, Moon Princess. Or would you rather I end your life now?"

Sailor Moon let out a weak gasp of pain and protest as her feet left the ground, dangling several inches above it with her skull on fire, suspended by the hair. Genesis looked down at her with malicious pleasure, and then, in a voice of deadly quiet, murmured, "Do you want to see just how powerful I have become, Sailor Moon?"

Without waiting for an answer, Genesis threw Serena from her and she collided painfully with the statues of the immobile Sailors Pluto and Mercury. She lay slumped against them, the stabbing pain in the back of her head joining the agony that coursed through the rest of her body. Powerless, barely conscious and broken though she was, Serena could not tear her horrified eyes away from the Dark Queen, who turned her back on her, raising her arms above her head, extending her hands towards the obscured heavens. As she did so, swirling, multicoloured smoke, so alike the shield she had created when holding back the Queen's horrid orbs, appeared around her wraithlike form, and Sailor Moon was sure its appearance meant nothing good.

"Let me demonstrate just how doomed you are, Princess!" boomed Genesis, her hands curled into fists. "And how fitting will it be that I use the powers of those who would save it to destroy the Earth?"

"_NO!" _Sailor Moon gasped, shocked into awareness. Genesis turned her head to look at her head to look at her, a truly evil smile lighting her face, and she was unnerved to see that the Dark Queen's eyes had become solid, foreboding yellow, devoid of whites or pupils. And then, in a harsh, warped voice more horrible than her regular hiss, a voice like a demonic goddess', she screeched, "I HAVE COLLLECTED THE SOULS OF SEVEN PLANETS, SEVEN PLANETS THAT WILL FALL TO THE CAUSE OF DARK GENESIS, AND IN THE NAME OF REVENGE UPON THE WRETCHED QUEEN SERENITY AND HER DAUGHTER, PLANETS, _GIVE ME YOUR POWER!"_

On the last word, the dark throne room vanished, and to Serena's utter bewilderment, she saw that they were now standing amidst the blazing ruins of the Moon Kingdom, a clear view of the Earth in front of them. A ferocious, uneartheal wind roared about them, whipping Genesis' mass of ruby hair around her face, so that she looked like some sort of demented, humanoid flame. One hand was raised above her head, clutching what looked like a fistful of light, and in that same, warped twisted voice, Genesis shouted, "I CALL UPON THE POWER OF MERCURY -" she threw what looked like a ball of cyan light onto the ground in front of her, so that a twisting ring of the same colour appeared around her. " – JUPITER -" a ring of bright emerald appeared beneath the cyan one. " – MARS -" a ring of flaming red joined the other two. "URANUS, NEPTUNE, SATURN AND PLUTO!" Rings of topaz, turquoise, amethyst and onyx appeared around the Dark Queen, as if she were some sort of strange magnet for rings of light.

For a moment, there was nothing, and then, the rings widened to form a multicoloured cocoon around Genesis, and then it shot inside her, an act that seemed to suck all the sound from the Moon Kingdom, which had been lost in a flash of brightest white light. All that remained were the eight stone statues of the dead Sailor Soldiers which, to Sailor Moon's utmost horror, were starting to crack and crumble, not as though the Princesses imprisoned in stone were about to break free, but as if they were about to _break._

"No," gasped Serena, unable to comprehend how it was possible for so many horrible things to happen at once. "I've got to do something! I can't let this happen!"

"_THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO, YOU FOOLISH GIRL!" _Genesis screamed in triumph, a sound magnified to a hundred times its original volume and seeming to boom from all around her.

And then, all the sound that had been sucked from the world was released in an ear-splitting, supernova-class explosion of sound that caused Serena's eardrums to pop in a burst of one-second agony. The white light that had obscured her vision dispersed, revealing a sight so awful that she would have gladly traded almost anything she owned to have the whiteness back.

Genesis had transformed into the six storey tall monstrous version of herself whose form she had assumed when she had attacked the Moon Kingdom in the Silver Millennium. Her long red hair billowed around her, coiling and twisting like a hundred snake heads. She now stood at the edge of the burning ruins of what had once been a flourishing kingdom, her back turned to her as she faced the Earth. In one hand, she held her massive, flaming whip, and the other was obscured by a massive ball of onyx energy.

And then, without warning, the Dark Queen unleashed a wordless scream of rage, and her whip lashed out like a massive, flaming serpent, and then she brought her free hand down upon the handle, causing the whip to turn deepest black, freezing where it hung in mid-air. A bubble of lavender energy ballooned at the hilt of the rope with a sound like a laser cannon charging up, slowly increasing in size. Sailor Moon's heart thundered to a stop as she realized what was about to happen, and she screamed, "NO, PLEASE -"

But with a noise like a bomb exploding a massive wave of jagged, crackling lavender energy exploded out of the edge of Genesis' whip, outstripping the speed of light as it rocketed towards Earth, a roaring mass of raw energy that would have no problem demolishing the blue and green cloud-streaked planet it was speeding towards-

Sailor Moon's scream of horror was lost as the wave collided with Earth, enveloping it in a translucent lavender cocoon, while massive bolts of jagged black energy pummelled its surface, and with each contact, deafening thunderclaps of noise assaulted her ears, which was saying something, because there was no sound in space.

"NO, STOP IT, _STOP IT!" _screamed Serena, running towards Genesis' massive form, but she was too far away, and her words were whipped away by the roaring of gale-force winds that reached her ears. It was a hundred times harder to fight her way towards Genesis because of the chaotic power of the wind, and Sailor Moon only managed to take a few steps before her knees gave out beneath her, and she fell forwards, tears obscuring her vision, still clutching Venus' Planet Crystal to her chest as she shouted, _"NO, GENESIS, PLEASE, STOP IT, THOSE PEOPLE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU, PLEASE, _PLEASE, _STOP! IT'S ME YOU WANT TO HURT, HURT ME INSTEAD!"_

But Genesis did not respond, and watching Genesis' relentless assault on Earth was more potent than the most brutal means of physical torture to her, and Serena began to sob uncontrollably, the agonizing pain assaulting her heart was surely just a miniscule fraction of the torture Genesis was inflicting upon the helpless, defenceless Earth –

"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!" Serena shouted in despair, directing her Moon Rod at Genesis' massive back. Her attack looked like a little burst of wind compared to the devastating wave Genesis had unleashed, and it may as well have been for all the damage it did to the Queen. The moment it made contact with Genesis, however, the violent storm savaging Earth surged into the planet, and to Sailor Moon's indescribable terror, she saw that the planet had become an empty, lifeless grey, the oceans dried up and turned to colour of dust, the land leeched of all colour, clouds no more than smoky black wisps drifting around it.

It looked as though the Earth had died.

But Genesis, it seemed, was not finished; an emerald glow appeared around Earth, and the planet began to pulsate like some weird, galactic heart. Sailor Moon was frozen, her heart threatening to burst from her chest as she stared in mute horror at the planet she loved, at the planet each of her friends had died to protect...

She did not know what she was supposed to have done; she could not allow Venus' Planet Crystal, or her own, for that matter, to fall into Genesis' hands, for it would certainly spell doom for the solar system, but since she had refused, the Dark Queen had destroyed all life on Earth, demonstrating the power she was up against. If she had perhaps given in to Lady Genesis' demands, would she have spared Earth?

"Hmm," Genesis said in her thunderous voice, in a tone that suggested there was nothing more than a tiny flaw in a science experiment. "It looks like this planet still has a grain of defiance inside it. I suppose I'm going to need more power." She turned to look at Sailor Moon over her shoulder, who was still on her knees, completely unmoving, her mind still unable to comprehend the fact that the Earth had not, in fact, died.

_That witch! _She thought, over and over again. _That horrible, evil witch! What have those poor people done to deserve that fate?_

"MOON PRINCESS!" bellowed Genesis, her pale face contorted with fury, enraged flaming eyes narrowed to slits. "EARTH'S DESTRUCTION APPROACHES, AS DOES YOURS! YOU ARE MERELY DELAYING THE INEVITABLE. GIVE ME SAILOR VENUS' PLANET CRYSTAL, AND YOUR SILVER CRYSTAL!"

Serena remained on her knees, tears leaking out from beneath her closed lids. But resolve flared inside her heart, renewing her determination to thwart Genesis, to do what all her friends had died in the attempt of; Earth had not yet been destroyed, and the power to finish the job was clenched tightly in her hands. As long as she held out, Genesis could not take away the last, most important thing to her, and as long as she did that, there was still a hope of saving Earth.

And slowly, shakingly, Sailor Moon got her feet, her dark blue eyes now dry and burning with defiance as she glared up at the once-beautiful face of Lady Genesis, now contorted with demonic rage.

"No!" she shouted, balling her gloved hands into fists, no longer shaking with terror, but with fury. "I won't let you destroy Earth, Genesis! These humans have done nothing to harm you, and in the name of the Moon, I will protect them and these Planet Crystals from scum like you until my heart burns out!" Her eyes narrowed as they locked on to Genesis', which changed from amused to infuriated at her words.

"In that case, Earth has very little time left," snarled Genesis, so maliciously that red sparks flew from her fingertips. "Rest assured, Sailor Moon, that I will kill you, but first you will watch as I destroy all that you love, the remains of your friends, one by one!"

Emitting a wordless, ear-splitting shriek, Genesis slashed her whip over her shoulder, which emitted a deafening crack as she did so, and an impossibly large mass of roaring, blazing black fire exploded off of her weapon, assuming the shape of a frightening, flame-spewing dragon that thundered through the air at the circle of the stone princesses –

With a grunt of effort Serena leapt into the air, rising as fast as a missile to meet the flaming onyx dragon, her hands clasped over her heart-shaped brooch, Venus' Planet Crystal circling her head –

When the flaming mass of deadly magic was barely feet from her, Sailor Moon flung her arms out as if to shield her fellow Soldiers trapped hundreds of feet below her, and from her Silver Crystal erupted a massive, blinding translucent shield of silvery-white light, ballooning into a massive half-sphere that curled protectively in front of the Scouts below.

The effort of keeping it there was enough to make Serena feel as they she were teetering on the point of death; she thought that trying to move the Moon would have been easier, and yet she kept her shield in place, through sheer will power, her whole body screaming in protest from the strain she was putting herself through, heart pounding loudly in her ears-

The flaming dragon snarled in outrage at being defied and gnashed its massive, pointed teeth, opening its onyx maw wide and unleashing a maelstrom of jet-black fire at her shield, but the flames slid off its flawless surface, writhing and twisting in a fruitless attempt to banish the silvery-white half sphere of light.

"_THIS CANNOT BE!" _howled Genesis, from behind the enraged dragon, her booming voice choked with fear. Drowning strength from Genesis' unease, Sailor Moon raised one hand above her head, summoning her Moon Rod; in a flash of pink light it materialized, and she began to twirl it like a baton, passing it between her hands, twirling it around her head and behind her back, allowing it to collect the necessary energy to perform the counter attack she need to –

The furious black dragon seemed to move in slow motion as she directed her massive, glistening shield into the tear-shaped sapphire affixed to the head of her Rod. Sailor Moon knew the effort of doing so would, under logical circumstances, have killed her, but these were not logical circumstances, all rationality had long since deserted her world, and the blood in her veins seemed to have been replaced by some sort of adrenaline-based, unknown alien energy, providing her with the strength she needed to keep up her shield's energy swarming into her Moon Rod –

At long last, the last of her silver-white shield had disappeared inside the red, heart-shaped crown of her Rod, and Sailor Moon felt the power stored inside it floor through her hands and throughout her entire body, so that both she and her Moon Rod began to tremble violently, vibrating with power. With some difficulty, Serena managed to raise her head to look at the writhing, flame-spewing dragon before her, and she only gazed up at it for a split second before the energy contained inside her and her Moon Rod exploded out of her with the force of a supernova, a massive beam of rainbow light bursting into existence and cutting through the flaming monstrosity's mass of fire as easily as if it were not there. It continued to rocket towards the dragon, slamming into its massive open mouth with an ear-splitting explosion that did not quite manage to drown out Genesis' scream of utmost, incredible rage at her being thwarted –

A thick pillar of blindingly white light burst out of the back of the dragon's head, followed quickly by one exploding out of its left side, then its stomach...

As pillars of light exploded out of the onyx dragon, thick, jagged cracks of rainbow light appeared upon its furling, smoky body, adding to the impression that it was falling apart at the seams. Serena kept her Moon Rod pointed at the shuddering, roaring voice, her eyes narrowed, breath coming in jagged bursts. Even with all the strange, alien energy that she had managed to contract, her mind teetered on the brink of unconsciousness, she was physically and mentally exhausted to a point she had never reached before, and her grip was slipping on the bottom of her Moon Rod, she could not hold on any longer, not even with Earth's future depending on her destroying the monstrous creation Genesis had created able to keep her holding on –

_HANG IN THERE, SAILOR MOON!_

The shock of hearing the united cry of her eight fallen fellow Sailor Soldiers was such that she nearly dropped her Moon Rod. But their command, coupled with the joy of hearing their voices once again, acted as a stimulant to her, banishing her weariness as she remembered that Genesis was still alive and furious, that she would destroy her the moment she let her guard down –

"_NO!" _Serena screamed in denial, and on her word the dragon exploded with a bomb-like roar of fury that lingered behind it long after its body had transformed into millions of tiny shining, glowing orbs, faint, tinkling music playing at their appearance.

_Souls, _Serena realized, with a painful lurch from her heart. _Lives that Genesis stole, millions of people who were sacrificed to further the Dark Queen's cause. _Resolve ignited in her heart like a landmine that had been triggered, and with clenched fists, she vowed, _In the name of the Moon, I will punish her!_

The pulsating souls drifted about like mist, hovering around the flaming rubble of the Moon Kingdom as if determined that their pure white glow could replace the kingdom's former grandeur. At the center of this sea of whiteness, directly between herself and Genesis, who had been returned to her normal size but retained her flaming whip and looked just as enraged as the dragon Serena had just succeeded in banishing, hovered the seven Planet Crystals that Genesis had managed to claim, all glowing in a warm, multi-coloured cluster, drifting unconcernedly around each other.

The silence that followed couldn't have lasted for more than a few seconds, but those seconds were stretched into what seemed like an eternity, so strained it hurt her eardrums. Sailor Moon was frozen, her mind totally blank, unable to move past the fact that all of Genesis' power, plus the combined force of seven planets, were unable to defeat the power of her Silver Crystal and now, more importantly, they were sitting out in the open, within her grasp, now joined by Venus' Planet Crystal.

_She can't get them, _Serena told herself, snapping out of her numb sense of unreality. _If she does, it's all over._

Genesis was first to break the silence between them, but she did not address Serena; raising her arms high above her head, Genesis threw her head back and, in her harsh, demonically warped voice, screamed, "I CALL UPON THE VESTIGES OF DARK ENERGY THAT REMAIN IN THIS GALAXY, TOO GREAT TO EVER BE VANQUISHED BY THE DAMNED LIGHT OF THE SAILOR SOLDIERS! I ASK YOU NOW, IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SAILOR SOLDIERS FINISHED, TO LEND ME YOUR POWER!"

Serena was paralyzed, rooted to the spot by horror, unable to tear her eyes away from the Dark Queen across from her, even though she knew she should have seized this opportunity to grab the Planet Crystals, while Genesis was distracted. But she did not. She could only watch as a ring of indigo light rose up from out of the ground, which was shuddering so violently it caused Sailor Moon to stagger backwards, lose her balance, and fall hard onto the ground. The ring travelled up Genesis body and condensed into an orb of indigo light that hovered above her raised alabaster hand, and in that same terrible voice Genesis screamed, "THE NEGAVERSE!"

Now a ring of dark sapphire had sprung up from the ground, and as it joined the indigo orb, Genesis screeched, "THE DARK MOON!" which prompted an orb of violent pink to join the other two.

"THE DEATH BUSTERS!"

"THE DEAD MOON!"

"CHAOS!"

As orbs of darkest black, glittering amethyst and blinding white joined those of violent pink, sapphire and indigo, Genesis' hand curled into a fist around them and there was an ear-splitting explosion of noise, accompanied by pillars of pitch black light that shot out of the Dark Queen's hand. There was a thunderous cackle as a jagged bolt of violet light lashed down from the now blood-red sky, and for a moment Sailor Moon hoped foolishly that Genesis had been struck down, but as the lightning vanished, an unwilling gasp of horror escaped her lips.

A blade, the most lethal looking one she had ever seen, had taken the place of Genesis' whip in her right hand. Seven feet long and stunningly silver, strange purple markings had been inscribed upon the flawless surface, emitting a chilling glow. The ebony hilt was magnificently wrought into a cruel, gargoyle-like dragon head, and every so often, onyx sparks shot out of it.

No amount of healing could save her if she sustained a blow from that sword.

There was an amber flash of light and suddenly, the Earth, the silvery moon and the flaming ivory ruins of the Moon Kingdom had vanished, replaced by a dusty, rust-coloured rocky ground, the bloody sky stretching endlessly, cloudlessly, in every direction. Genesis bared her teeth in a vicious snarl of a smile, and she called, "Are you afraid of death, Moon Princess?"

At the Dark Queen's words, Sailor Moon's overwhelming feelings of fear, uncertainty and, most importantly, loss, deserted her. Defiance rose up in her like an erupting volcano, and she wiped her eyes on the back of her silken white gloved hand, her mouth curling into a determined grimace as she staggered to her feet.

The faintest of winds picked up, and blonde and ruby hair rippled in the silence. For the briefest second, Serena's dark blue eyes locked on to Genesis' now flaming red ones, and then, without a visible signal, both broke into the fastest sprint they could, Sailor Moon's arms swinging back and forth, feet barely touching the ground as she tore towards the hovering cloud of Planet Crystals, her breath coming in short, painful gasps, mentally urging herself to go faster. Genesis seemed to not even be touching the ground , both arms extended behind her, her chaotic mass of ruby hair flying about her harsh, snarling face, twisted with concentration.

It was a perfectly equal pairing, a race towards the mind-point of light and dark, the epitomes of good and evil, and would end with either salvation or destruction –

But then Genesis unleashed a scream of laughter and somehow, as impossible as it seemed, sped up, growing larger with each step she took, each step that was equal to three of her own, and the Dark Queen was going to win, destruction would prevail, it was etched in stone upon her savage face, after all she had been through, her quest was still ill-fated –

_No, no, NO! _Screamed a voice in Serena's head. _SHE CAN'T WIN! YOU CAN'T LET HER! YOU'VE GONE THROUGH HELL AND BACK TO GET HERE, YOUR FRIENDS GAVE THEIR _LIVES _UP TO GET YOU INTO THE RACE, YOU CAN'T LOSE AFTER ALL THAT! EARTH WILL SUFFER HER WRATH IF YOU LOSE, SERENA! THE PEOPLE OF EARTH WILL BE NO MORE!_

The Dark Queen, as if hearing her thoughts, opened her mouth to taunt her, to squash her rapidly dying hope, but then two things happened at once.

There was a sudden flash of white light, light that obscured every part of the world for two seconds stretched into an eternity, and when at long last it cleared, it revealed Sailors Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn, all still frozen in various poses of agony, defence and offence, still trapped as Princesses, but no longer crumbling, cracked, on the brink of death. And Serena knew, without knowing how she knew, that if she could only beat Genesis to the center, they would be free once more –

Genesis staggered in her advance, flaming red eyes widening in horror as she took in the sudden appearance of the ones she thought she had finished, and Sailor Moon acted instantly, instinctively, screaming the first attack that popped into her head, knowing her chance had come at last –

"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!"

The fact that her weakest, most basic attack, that the burst of pink light that exploded out of her Moon Rod was enough to slam into Genesis' stomach after arcing gracefully around the Planet Crystal and throw her bodily backwards almost caused Sailor Moon's heart to burst with joy, for she realized that her path was clear and uncontested –

_I'm gonna do this! _She realized, and an explosion of strength occurred inside her, allowing her to cross the remaining distance between her and the Planet Crystals in three leaping bounds, her outstretched hands clenching shut around both sides of the glowing cluster, clutching them to her chest, pressing them, unconsciously, against her Silver Crystal –

"_NO!"_

But Genesis' outraged scream of fury was lost as her hands made contact with the jewel-bright spheres; all the sound seemed to have been sucked from the world, condensing into the middle of the surprisingly hot cluster. There was a beat of impossible, suffocating silence, and then there was a sound like a supernova explosion as a ring of jade light burst off the circle of imprisoned Sailor Soldiers, banishing their stone prisons as it went and blasting Genesis off her feet with a shriek of agony.

The Planet Crystals streaked out from Sailor Moon's slackened grip, and each rocketed towards their respective Princess, all of whose hair was flying out behind them, their eyes closed. As their Planet Crystals shot into their chests, the Soldiers' eyes flew open, first Jupiter's, then Neptune's, followed almost instantly by Mars' and Mercury's, then Saturn's, Pluto's and Uranus' and finally Venus'.

"Rei!" Serena choked out, her knees threatening to give out from beneath her as her heart swelled to seemingly twice its original size. "Ami! Mina! Lita! Amara! Michelle! Trista! Hotaru! _You're alive!"_

"What were you expecting?" laughed Saturn, her Silence Glaive strapped across her flowing violet dress' back.

Serena closed her eyes in an effort to stem the flow of her tears, but at that moment, eight united screams, more terrible than any that could have been induced by attack or torture, sounded from all sides of her, and at that same moment, before Sailor Moon had time to even open her eyes, something a thousand times colder than ice, sharper than the most well-cared for blade and seemed to be made out of agony, pierced her back with a sickening clicking noise.

Her mind went blank as what she could only describe as hell trapped in physical form forced itself deeper inside her, plunging her body into what felt like freezing water. A broken gasp of horror escaped her lips as she looked uncomprehendingly at the seven foot long something protruding from just beneath her heart, impossibly sharp and submerged in hot crimson liquid.

"SAILOR MOON!"

"_SERENA!"_

"_NOOO!"_

"SERENAAA!"

The Inner Scouts' screams of horror were nothing, _nothing _compared to the agony Genesis' blade was causing her, but they did nothing to ease her pain, for she had never dreamed that anyone could cry out in such pain.

"MOON PRINCESS!"

Even the Outer Scouts' united shout of pain could not compete; their agony was blissful relaxation compared to it. Slowly, jerkily, Serena turned her head to stare, tormented, over her shoulder. Genesis' hands were clenched upon her sword's ebony hilt, her demonic face twisted with glee, making in more inhumane than ever. The Dark Queen shook her blade slightly, unleashing a maniacal screech of laughter, and Serena fell forwards onto the sickeningly cold bit of metal.

It was pain beyond belief, slow torture to feel her own heart pumping the life out of her in the form of warm, gushing blood. A choking gasp of horror escaped her lips, and she reached her hands, unstable and shaking violently, up to the wound in a futile attempt to stem the blood flow. Her silken white bodice was drenched in crimson, and the fingertips of her gloves quickly became stained, trembling above the stab wound.

Someone was speaking, a slow, warped sound that made no sense to Serena, and whether it was friend or triumphant foe she was unsure; the next thing she did know, however, was utmost horror, for she felt the blade being withdrawn from inside her, the sound of it as sharp as shattering ice against her ears, and she fell like a ragdoll upon the dusty, rust-coloured ground, trembling as hard as though an earthquake was ravaging her body. Her vision was blurring, disappearing altogether around the edges. She could not think, let alone speak, prisoner to horror as she was, and it cost every last out of her rapidly vanishing strength, both mental and physical, to keep herself in the physical word, feeling as though each second she remained there was like a thousand daggers assaulting her agonized body.

She knew she was dying, and there was only one uncertainty in her future now; how soon would it come?

In an odd, detached way, she felt several pairs of arms grabbing her, impossibly gentle, and the feeling of them forced Sailor Moon's eyes open, though she had no memory of them closing.

Blurry faces, reduced to shapes and colours, swam above her face against the mass of bloody red. _Blonde, _she thought stupidly. _And black. But...who...who are they?_

"Oh, Serena!" someone was sobbing from a million miles away. "You can't...d-die!"

"Mars?" she whispered shakily, for she recognized her voice; the effort of speech felt like it would kill her.

Flashes of colour and bursts of sound came from behind them, but she no longer cared what they meant; her life was ending, what did it matter if Earth was destroyed? The pain the planet would feel was nothing, _nothing, _compared to the agony she was feeling right now.

"Hotaru, can't you do something?" someone choked out, but Sailor Moon no longer had the strength to identify the speaker.

"_HOTARU, COME ON!" _someone choked out, but Sailor Moon no longer had the strength to identify the speaker.

"_HOTARU, COME ON!" _someone screamed in desperation, and she felt her eyelids closing –

There was an agonized scream, a flash of bright lavender and a triumphant cackle, and then all was black.


	14. The End

"Serena?"

The voice was faint and musical, beautiful, and yet it made her want to cry. It echoed around her blissfully cool black oblivion, as if the speaker was calling her name a thousand times.

The pain had left her, and she felt perfectly at ease, and the troubles of her fellow Scouts, the frightening threat that was Genesis, seemed to be a million miles away, in some distant corner of the universe. It was heaven, just to float in blackness, not to think, not to fight, to let the coolness of empty space wash over her...

_Am I dead? _The thought rang clearly through Sailor Moon's mind, and with it came the answer; if she could think, and hear, and feel, then she must, in some way, not be dead.

"No, you're not dead," the melodious voice told her, and a pang of familiarity went through her. "You've done so well, Serena, but not enough."

_Not enough? _She thought indignantly, and anger trickled through her, accompanied by a stream of memories. _I've just been impaled and tortured; I had to watch the Earth fall to the brink of destruction, and I felt the pain of each of my friends' deaths as if they were my own, and you're telling me I haven't done _enough?

"Yes, I am," answered the floating, musical voice, and Sailor Moon's anger at the unknown person turned the blood pounding through her veins into molten lava; how dare this person talk to her like that? It was so powerful that her eyes struggled to open, but for whatever reason, they would not.

_Who are you? _Serena demanded, struggling to tame the raging fury coursing through her so that she could think coherently.

"Ah, but you already know," murmured the voice, and her sense of confusion and recognition deepened. "Look into your heart, Serena, and tell me what you see."

Serena did, and as she did so, calm washed through her, a tidal wave abating her flame of anger at once. Her mind became crystal clear as she searched herself for the answer the mysterious person had commanded her to search for, scouring herself for the identity of the speaker.

_Silver, _Serena thought, slightly confused when her mind was filled with the stunning radiance of moonlight. _Wait, moonlight – it couldn't be...she's not –_

"Serenity?" she whispered in amazement, convinced she was right, yet she did not dare to hope that her mother might be somewhere with her, in the oblivion –

"Yes, Serena," whispered the melodious voice of her mother, and Sailor Moon was so shocked at this revelation that her eyes flew open.

Her shock at finding herself standing in the restored Moon Kingdom, the glistening marble palace sitting in front of her, and that of finding the gaping hole in her stomach was non-existent, was nothing compared to the wondrous amazement that seized her as she gazed at the woman on the marble stairs before her.

Queen Serenity seemed to emit a faint, silvery glow, and her white-toothed smile did nothing to dim it; her pure white dress looked gracefully even in stillness, and her light lavender hair, so alike Sailor Moon's own hairstyle, floated around her kind face even though there was no wind.

"Serena," Serenity cried, her dark blue eyes sparkling with tears of joy as she spread her arms wide. "My daughter!"

Serena stood frozen for a split second, and then she broke into a sprint, running faster than she had when she had raced Genesis to the Planet Crystals, terrified that her mother might vanish if she did not reach her fast enough. She hit Serenity like a sack of rocks, but the Queen did not fall back; she embraced Serena with gentle firmness, her cool arms more steadying than the most potent stimulant. Serena's arms formed an iron cage around her mother's waist, and tears flowed freely from her eyes, wetting Serenity's silken bodice, but the Queen did not pull away.

Sailor Moon would have been happy to stand there forever, embracing her mother, allowing an eternity of separation to melt away, to express all her sorrow that Serenity had had to die to save her and the other Soldiers, and her longing to see her again, her joy at their reunion outside her first true home came pouring out of her in their hug –

_But it's not my only home, _Sailor Moon remembered, and an explosion of fear took place inside her chest as the distance between her and the other Sailor Soldiers, between the Moon Kingdom and the dying Earth, and ultimately, between salvation and Genesis, seemed to shorten immensely.

"Am I...am I d-dead?" Serena whispered, raising her tear-streaked face to stare at her mother, wincing slightly at the last word, as though it were sharp in her throat. Serenity closed her eyes and turned her face to the side, lips trembling slightly before whispering, "Yes."

Sailor Moon let out a little gasp of horror and sank to her knees, shuddering with silent sobs. It was like being stabbed all over again, as if she were facing the horrible realization that she was never going to see any of her friends again, that she could do nothing for Earth, and the smaller realizations that she would no longer need to breathe, that her heart would no longer beat...

"But you will only be for a moment," Serenity added, her voice the quietest of murmurs. Sailor Moon froze, while her eyes widened to the size of saucers; if her heart was still beating, it would have stopped. She threw her gaze wildly up at her mother, face shining at this revelation.

"Then I need to go back!" she announced, pulling reluctantly away from her mother and turning her tear-streaked face up to Serenity's. "Is it possible?"

Serenity closed her eyes, and her grip on Serena tightened briefly before she whispered, "Yes." Then she removed her hands from her shoulders and placed them, instead, upon her brooch containing the Silver Crystal.

"But Serena, it is crucial you understand this," Serenity's voice suddenly became firmer, her eyes losing their dreamy quality as they bored pleadingly into her own. "What I'm about to give you will allow you and the other Scouts to defeat Genesis once and for all. Its power is great enough to destroy the entire galaxy, and I urge you not to provide Genesis with an opportunity to possess you. Do you understand me?"

"Of course," whispered Serena, having no desire to allow the Dark Queen to do such a thing. "But -"

"There is no time for questions," murmured Serenity, and a single, pristine tear rolled down her cheek. "Trista and Hotaru will show you all what to do when it comes to destroying Genesis. If it fails...then we shall be reunited shortly. Give my thanks to the other Sailor Soldiers."

Before Serena could speak, could say goodbye, Queen Serenity gave her a sad little smile and transformed into a humanoid mass of swirling silver energy. Sailor Moon gave a cry of alarm and staggered backwards, but the energy was already surging into her brooch, which grew incredibly hot, and when the last of her mother had disappeared, a noise like a laser cannon being fired rent the air apart, and pillars of brightest white light exploded out of her brooch, shrouding her surroundings more completely than total blackness.

Serena stood there, one hand outstretched towards the place where her mother had disappeared, still numb with shock at their reunion. The last time she had seen her mother was when she had blasted her abruptly into Earth's future, and on the past two occasions, she had not had time to say good-bye.

Quite abruptly, the total silence, the absolute whiteness, lifted, depositing her on the dusty red plain where Genesis had killed her, the scene now dominated by eight people darting around a ninth, emitting loud bangs and flashes of multicoloured light.

The battle between the Sailor Soldiers and Genesis was so intense that none of them noticed her appearance, and for the briefest moment, Sailor Moon was frozen in horrified awe, transfixed at how Genesis twirled and dodged with apparent ease, deflecting the combined attacks of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Pluto, Neptune and Saturn with a taunting smile twisting her beautiful face as she did so.

"Pluto Deadly Scream!" shouted Pluto, twirling around and disappearing behind a mass of screeching, swirling wind, which she banished by shooting a massive, rotating indigo sphere out of her staff, and it rocketed towards Genesis, who parried the attack with an almost lazy slash of her sword, sending Pluto's attack rebounding upon its owner, but she thankfully had the sense to leap out of the way, looking furious –

Uranus capitalized on Genesis' turned back by sprinting forwards, her Space Sword held high above her head, but Genesis whirled around so fast she appeared to be blurred, and she slashed her sword through the air. Sailor Moon's reanimated heart stopped, waiting for Uranus to crumple, but, not for nothing, had Uranus survived the demons in the Dark Queen's jungle for nearly a week; Uranus leaned backwards so far the back of her head touched the ground, and she leapt into a back flip, kicking Genesis under the chin and causing her to let out an enraged scream, raising her cursed blade once more –

"_VENUS METEOR STRIKE!" _screamed Venus, her hair flying out behind her as she unleashed five golden, light-composed meteors upon Genesis, three of which that struck her in the back, but with an uneartheal scream, she whirled around and hurled her sword at Venus, a streaking silver and onyx blur that was faster than an arrow, but Saturn, who appeared out of nowhere, was faster still; she leapt in front of Venus and slammed her Silence Glaive upon the ground, screaming, _"SILENCE WALL!"_

A mass of jagged black energy erupted out of her Glaive's lethal looking blade, absorbing most of the impact of the sword, but both Saturn and Venus were backwards in the aftershock of the attack.

Inhumane fury was etched upon Genesis' face, and her form glowed bloody red, her hair writhing like a mass of angry snakes, her hands obscured with deadly black energy that she was prepared to unleash upon Mars, Neptune and Jupiter, all of whom were in mid-attack –

And it was then that Sailor Moon acted; lightning fast, she produced her Moon Rod and jabbed it towards Genesis, screaming, "MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!"

Everyone unfroze as they heard her cry rent the air, and Genesis turned, seemingly in slow motion, while her attack went flashing on ahead at light speed, made a hundred times more powerful by Queen Serenity's energy. As it slammed into Genesis, a deafening burst of noise ripped its way into existence, and Genesis' attempt to dodge it was in vain as she was blasted off her feet, screaming in agony, lashing through the air, clawing at the mass of white light that was assaulting her form –

But her screams, her plight, were all dimmed as the other Soldiers turned to stare at her in wonder, and by the looks on their faces, they were not daring to believe what they were seeing was real. For a split second, there was silence, during which everyone stared at Serena, and she stared right back, the moment seeming to swell with joy, and then –

"_SAILOR MOON!" _screamed Jupiter and Mercury, sheathed in magnificent flowing gowns of emerald green and oceanic blue, and they flung themselves forwards, faces shining with impossible joy.

"SERENA!" Mars and Uranus' jubilation at her revival was just as great as the others' and they slammed into the group's mass embrace with dull thuds, intent on hugging her, to make sure she was real...

Neptune's and Pluto's happiness seemed beyond words; clothed in gowns of shimmering turquoise and glistening onyx, they joined the mass of shouting, crying Sailor Soldiers, and arms rained down upon the jubilant Serena, all of them yelling incomprehensibly, overjoyed at her return to life -

Through the mass of limbs and colours and shining faces, Serena saw Genesis, no longer being assaulted by her Gorgeous Meditation, but on her feet, still trembling violently, but her lethal onyx sword was back in quite steady hand, and she was advancing upon Venus and Saturn, who were standing back to back, grim determination mingling with uncertain fear upon their faces, Venus' gloved hands glowing with golden energy, Saturn's Silence Glaive held lengthwise across her body –

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Sailor Moon screamed, unrestrained fury exploding out of her heart. She clasped her hands over her brooch and screamed, "MOON COSMIC _ULTIMATUM!"_

Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were all thrown back from her as ribbons of pristine silver light exploded out of her Silver Crystal, wrapping themselves elegantly around her form, a soft cocoon f warm light. She felt the skirt of her uniform grow hot, becoming pure white with rainbow streaks and large rainbow ribbons appeared at the back of it, trailing to the floor. Her long blonde hair transformed into purest opal, and a magnificent sceptre appeared in her hand in the place of her Moon Rod, topped with the Silver Crystal. With a graceful twirl, she emerged from the cocoon as Sailor Cosmos for the first time, her hair and skirt now pinkish-opal, her bodice and boots pure white.

Everyone gasped in shock, and Genesis, in spite of herself, turned to look at her transformation, the cold indifference upon her face morphing into utmost terror, her solid, blood red eyes widening in horror, her sword shaking in her hands.

Perhaps the Dark Queen knew death was coming for her, and in this case she was right; when Cosmos spoke, it was not in Serena's voice, but in the regal, musical voice of Queen Serenity.

"I have nothing to say to you, Genesis," she murmured, her dark blue eyes narrowed contemptuously. "I hope this makes you regret your crimes."

And she spun her elongated sceptre around her head with effortless grace, slamming it upon the ground her with supreme finality, and a tsunami of rainbow light exploded out of her Silver Crystal, crashing down upon Genesis with the force of a supernova and forming a massive sphere of light around her, reducing the Dark Queen to a wraithlike silhouette that was thrown in every direction, but Genesis' screams did not strike remorse in Cosmos' heart. She now knew that there was no shard of good residing inside Genesis, knew that she should have realized that when Uranus and Venus had tried to tell her, knew that things may have turned out completely different if she had...

_She is Chaos, _Cosmos thought, staring at the writhing Genesis through narrowed eyes. _And she will die._

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE _SURROUND!"_ shouted Mars from her left, tearing Cosmos away from her thoughts, and she turned her head to see several flaming balls inscribed with black symbols burst out of the Soldier of Fire's gloved hand and swirled around her for a moment, before slamming into the rainbow sphere encircling Genesis with crushing force, leaving a blazing trail in their wake and transforming the Dark Queen's prison into a flaming ball, causing Genesis' screams to intensify by tenfold, her black silhouette going rigid with pain.

The Soldiers had formed a circle around Genesis, their hair flying out behind them from the chaotic roaring winds that were roaring off their enemy's prison. All of them had the same furious determination upon their faces, all intent on making the Dark Queen pay for what she had done to them, to their planets, to Earth and to Serena before her death.

"MERCURY AQUE RAPHSODY!" screamed Mercury, running her gloved fingers through the strings of the cyan, light-composed harp that had appeared before her and sending a positive tsunami of magic-enhanced water rocketing towards the flaming orb, which transformed into a violent spherical body of water.

"JUPITER THUNDER _DRAGON!" _yelled Jupiter, and from her tiara exploded a colossal dragon constructed purely of jade lightning, which snapped its gargantuan jaws closed around the ball of water and transformed it into a ball of furiously cackling green lightning.

"VENUS METEOR _STRIKE!" _

Genesis' screams, already almost painfully high-pitched, so agonized that they were bordering dangerously on pitying increased in volume by tenfold as the Soldier of Love's golden meteors berated the surface of the ball of lightning, ramming through its top and transforming it into a blinding gold sphere that pulsed slightly, representing Venus' immense fury at the Dark Queen for making her death so long, so drawn out –

"URANUS WORLD SHAKING!" Uranus unleashed the power of the sky upon Genesis, transforming the sphere into molten red that shuddered and spasamed, and the screams sounding from the center of the sphere bordered on deafening –

"NEPTUNE DEEP _SUBMERGE!" _Neptune screamed furiously, and the lava-red orb became a tumultuously violent mass of swirling, deep blue ocean, condensing around Genesis' obscured form, threatening to crush her to death –

"PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!" Pluto's attack was by far the most devastating – next to Cosmo's – for unlike any other attack before, when her screaming violet sphere powered by the wrath of the underworld pummelled the side of the oceanic sphere, not only did it transform into a mass of roaring, spherical tornados, what Cosmos thought looked like two streaks of smoky black energy sped out of the depths of the sphere, and she knew, without knowing how she knew, that two of the Dark energies Genesis had summoned had abandoned the doomed Queen who had commanded for them to help her –

Saturn was the last to attack, and unlike the others, there was a sort of sorrowful resignation upon her face as she glared at the place where Genesis was obscured. An indigo glow had appeared around the Princess as she raised her Silence Glaive above her head, and a beat of which Saturn commanded filled the air, and during that silence, fear clawed at Cosmos' heart for the first time, for she realized that the deadly power the Soldier of Destruction commanded, the fatal blow the Messiah of Silence was about to deal, would end with claiming two lives –

Sailor Cosmos only got as far as raising one gloved hand up, reaching out in horror towards the Princess, her mouth open, scream of denial solidifying inside her chest, but Saturn's large violet eyes had already hardened, no trace of mercy or compassion left in them, and they were suddenly glowing bright yellow with energy, devoid of white or pupil. Ribbons of burning red light began to encircle her form, twisting and spiralling with utmost grace, and yet they were about as far as harmless as something could be; massive amounts of them lashed out and enveloped the mass of swirling tornados that encircled Genesis, while vast columns of burning indigo energy exploded out of the rusty red ground beneath Genesis, with each appearance a supernova-class explosion of noise renting the air apart, and rammed into Genesis' body, which was being hurled against ribbons of violent red energy, blasting off the walls of the spherical tornado Pluto had unleashed, and glowing with the indigo energy that accompanied Saturn's attack, while three streaks of onyx energy shot out of the writhing Dark Queen's form, two of the three evil forces who had been residing inside her form fled the Dark Queen's writhing body, banished by the strength of the Messiah of Silence's fury-based attack-

The sphere was now condensing with the noise of an atomic bomb exploding and a supernova combined into one, so loud that Cosmos was certain that she should have long since been deafened, but then, the sphere, and the vestiges of Saturn's Death Reborn Revolution had surged into Genesis' body, revealing the Dark Queen once more.

She was completely still, her hair frozen like a flame in mid-flicker, her arms spread wide, hands curled into claws, and her face was tilted skywards, horrified, blood-red eyes huge, expressing a thousand years' wrath and pain, her lips parted in what could have been surprise, and then, a current of black ran up the Dark Queen's form, starting at her obscured feet but rising so fast that in less than a second she was naught but a solid silhouette.

There was a beat of huge, absolute silence, so immense, so powerful that not even the vast plain upon which they were stranded seemed to be able to contain it, and then, Genesis exploded in a mass of noise and smoky black light, the last Dark entity inside her body fleeing into space –

Cosmos hid her face in the crook of her arm, unable to see, to hear anything but the uproarious din, unable to think or feel, her hair flying out behind her, knees bent, whole body tensed against the force of the impossible amount of Dark energy that was, as the essence of Genesis, trying to destabilize her. Rapidly, her entire world was consumed by blackness, the only real things in it the Sailor Soldiers, who were visible only for their respective colours glowing brightly around their forms –

_Join hands! _shouted Uranus, her mental command ringing with desperate determination. _We're getting the hell out of here!_

_Right! _Cosmos affirmed, smiling her gratitude at Uranus while taking Mars' and Saturn's hands in her own.

_Okay! _agreed Jupiter, holding on to Mercury and Venus.

_Smart plan, _Mercury declared, the highest praise anyone's idea could hope to get.

_Cosmos, ready! _cried Cosmos, and her form glowed with oppaline energy.

_Mars, ready! _announced, Mars, glowing ruby red, looking extremely haughty as she fought against Genesis.

_Mercury, ready! _Mercury glowed bright cyan, dark blue eyes hard with determination.

_Jupiter, ready! _– Jupiter blazed with emerald light – _Venus, ready! _– Venus became half-hidden by her molten gold glow – _Uranus, ready! _– the Soldier of Sky shone with topaz energy – _Neptune, ready! _– Neptune radiated deep sapphire light – _Pluto, ready! _ - the Guardian of Time emitted a sparkling onyx glow – _Saturn, ready! _– the Messiah of Silence glowed dark amethyst –

"_SAILOR TELE –_" But then, two unthinkable things happened at once.

A wave of impossible weakness stole over Sailor Cosmos, and with a nearly inaudible moan, she sank to her knees, Mars and Saturn still clutching her hands, their panic flooding through her as though it were her own. Her world shimmered before her eyes, and the her magnificent sceptre dematerialized, her Silver Crystal returning to her brooch, and her transformation into Sailor Cosmos was reversed, so that she was once more Sailor Moon.

But at that same moment, an ear-splitting scream rent the air, and jagged bolts of blazing red streaked the onyx black world, spreading like some parasitic disease until all was a mass of burning, furious red that seemed to pulsate with hatred directed equally at all the Sailor Soldiers, and then, a sound that Sailor Moon had thought she would never have to hear again assaulted her ears; Genesis' warped, demonic voice, choked with a mixture of agony and rage, screeched out, "IF I GO DOWN, THE SAILOR SOLDIERS MUST PLUMET FARTHER THAN ME!"

And a gargantuan hand composed of swirling onyx flame materialized in what would have been the sky, curled into a claw and radiating Dark energy, streaking lightning-fast towards their circle –

_Doesn't she ever give up? _demanded Jupiter, her exasperated fury infectious, leaving no room in any of their hearts for fear –

"SAILOR MOON, GET UP!" screamed Venus, Saturn and Uranus, and though their voices were inaudible over the chaotic winds, the three Princesses got their message across, feeding her their power, willing her to get up, to help them teleport out of harm's way –

_Remember what you told your mother, Serena? _Pluto whispered, and she alone seemed not to be on the verge of enragement or hysterics. _She told you your destiny could not be fulfilled until Genesis was truly vanquished!_

Sailor Moon did not stop to wonder how Pluto could possibly have known what her mother had said to her when she had been hovering between life and death. Her words, speaking of Genesis and Queen Serenity gave Serena the strength to get up from the ground, and as she did so, a ring of green light passed over her form, transforming her into Princess Serena. All this happened in a matter of seconds, and the flaming hand was still plunging towards them, bringing with it imminent death. The Soldiers knew that there was not a hope of surviving content with it, not when Genesis' hatred of them was fuelling its power, and that there was no time for Sailor Teleport, so they reacted instinctively, all shouting the same two words in perfect unison, raising their left hands above their heads –

"SAILOR ATTACK!"

Their beams of respective light exploded out of each of their hands, and at a speed that outstripped the speed of sound ten times over they rocketed upwards in a single, twisting mass of rainbow light that impaled the fiery palm with a deafening blast of noise, noise that mingled with someone's agonized screams –

So exhausted was Serena that for a moment she teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, but the incredible perseverance that came with being a Sailor Soldier, the inextinguishable flame of hope that burned within her chest, the knowledge that Genesis was on the verge of destruction kept her standing. In one fluid motion, she reclaimed Mars' right hand, and Saturn hers, and once more, united as the Guardians of the Solar System, they shouted, "SAILOR TELEPORT!"

Suddenly, Serena was rocketing upwards, reduced to an insubstantial streak of white light, the ruby and amethyst blurs that were Mars and Saturn speeding alongside her, the nine of them reduced to disembodied thought.

And though she no longer had eyes, Sailor Moon found she could somehow see that the world around her had rematerialized as outer space, but the pinpricks of light that were stars had all disappeared, obscured by millions upon millions of different coloured capsules of light, moving alongside them at much slower speeds, but she could see that humans were secured in each one, their arms wrapped around their legs, knees pulled up to their chests. And amongst the capsuled humans were millions of other streaks of white light who emitted rainbow glows, incredibly beautiful, and yet she had no idea what they were.

But Pluto, as always, seemed to have an answer. _Souls, _she murmured, and Sailor Moon could feel the Outer Scout's consciousness radiating happiness. _Returning to Earth._

And then the enormity of what they had accomplished suddenly hit the nine of them like a thousand iron punches; that each of them had died and come back to life, reborn as Sailor Princesses, discovering they held the souls of their respective planets in their hands. They had watched as Earth plunged closer to the dark abyss that was death than any entity had managed to force it to before. They had united at the last moment to destroy Genesis, saving their planet and billions of lives in the process, ensuring the salvation of their world.

And suddenly, they stopped rocketing upwards; Serena emerged from her streak of light, blinking about dazedly and as the others materialized around herm so did her surroundings. As if they were submerged in some vast tube of water, inky blotches of colour were floating down from the sky, twisting and furling and spreading out rapidly to form the velvety black, star-strewn sky, while the ground beneath them became darkest green, a vast expanse of grass shrouded by the rapidly growing mass of towering evergreen shrines. The familiar, low-lying building on her right was, unmistakably, Hikawa Shrine, and to her left, there was a sprawling mass of glistening lights and shining glass sky scrapers.

Tokyo.

It was as if the great reunion of the Sailor Soldiers had just happened, that they were about to be reminded of the looming, never vanishing presence of Genesis in a few seconds. And then the enormity of their greatest accomplishment struck them; there was no more Genesis. They were free at last.

There was a split second of absolute silence, and then the Soldiers burst into celebration; cheering and screaming, the four Inner Scouts ran at Serena, jubilant at both her reincarnation and Genesis' defeat, enveloping Sailor Moon in a bone-crushing hug. Uranus and Neptune embraced, the latter's eyes sparkling with tears at their first proper reunion, while Uranus' face split into one of her rare smiles. Pluto picked Saturn up and swung her around in a tight circle, tears of joy glistening in her dark red eyes, while Saturn cried, "Genesis is dead! _Serena did it!"_

Mercury was jumping up and down, clapping her hands, her face radiant with glee, all dignity forgotten; Jupiter and Mars had created a sort of war dance, their dress skirts trailing along the ground as they shouted, "WE DID IT! WE DID IT!"

Venus, however, signalled to the other Inner Scouts and, as one, they lifted Serena up off the ground and carried her back towards the Outer Scouts, tossing her up and down, still cheering at the top of their lungs.

Pluto raised her Garnet Rod high above her head, while Saturn crossed it with her Silence Glaive, and with a noise like a cannon blast, Pluto's Deadly Scream exploded in the sky some twenty feet above them, taking on the form of a gargantuan violet swan that spread its sparkling wings wide before fading into non-existence, while Saturn caused a silver lion's head to appear alongside it, silently roaring its approval. These were shortly joined by an explosion of small golden meteors that erupted out of the tip of Venus' index finger, illuminating their joyful faces with heavenly light, and, as one, they all shouted, "SCOUT POWER!"

Tears of joy cascaded down Sailor Moon's face as the others flung her into the air, pounding her on the back when the Inner Scouts allowed her to drop back onto her feet. Genesis was gone, after a thousand year enmity and seemingly endless battle that had spanned across nine planets and resulted in the destruction of nine great kingdoms. But the Dark Queen was undoubtedly still lurking out in the bowels of space, fuming in the Negaverse, biding her time with Queen Beryl and Nehellenia, spawned of Chaos, which could never truly be vanquished. Evil would undoubtedly strike again, and when they finally attempted to finish what they started, then the Sailor Soldiers would wait for them, be it in a millennium, a century, a decade or less.

_In the name of the Moon, _Sailor Moon thought with a smile. _We have punished you!_


End file.
